Nightcliff and Southern Districts to battle it out for top spot on the Darwin Premier cricket ladder

A battle for early season supremacy, a nasty injury to a much-loved Waratah cricketer and Southern Districts’ star recruit is the key to a 2-0 start. Here’s your Round 3 talking points.

Two undefeated teams of Darwin Premier cricket will face-off in an eagerly awaited top of the table clash at Nightcliff Oval on Saturday.

In what shapes as the match of Round 3, Nightcliff and Southern Districts will battle it out in a 50-over fixture, where the league’s most in-form bowling attack plays a reigning premier in decent batting nick.

At Cazalys, Palmerston take on PINT with neither side banking a win yet in 2023.

Meanwhile, a Darwin outfit boasting Territorian Jacob Dickman would be heavily fancied against a depleted Tracy Village who lost all of their big guns over the off-season.

Ryan Hackney made 94 for Waratah in Round 2. Picture: Pema Pakhrin.

The Villagers could be in for a tough season, having lost the likes of Todd Murphy, Tom Jackson, Josh Kann and Reiley Mark, and were rolled for just 66 at home in Round 2.

Darwin cricket’s Round 3 talking points

Early season supremacy

The Tigers take on the Crocs at Nightcliff Oval in a battle for top spot.

Nightcliff have been in peerless form with the ball, knocking over Waratah and Tracy Village for 66 in successive weeks.

Nightcliff has four bowlers within the Premier Top 10 going by MyCricket statistics, with leg spinner Charlie Smith taking five poles at the super miserly average of 3.6.

However, Districts’ Dylan Mullen leads the pack with eight wickets at 5.25.

In fact, five of the top six are either Crocs or Tigers bowlers, with Mullen, Smith, Josh Brown, Tim Garner and Jai Nanavati dominating so far after two rounds.

Udara Weerasinghe

Waratah playing-coach Udara Weerasinghe ahead of the 2023 Darwin Cricket season. Picture: Patch Clapp

It’s unclear when Waratah’s playing coach will return to the field after knocking himself out attempting to catch a ball at Gardens Oval against Darwin in Round 2.

Weerasinghe has been in contact with this publication, is recovering well and is expected to start running again this weekend.

It caps off a topsy turvy start to the season for Tahs, who were skittled for just 66 by Nightcliff in Round 1 before responding in a big way the following Saturday, posting 3/215 at Gardens against Darwin as new recruit Ryan Hackney contributed 94 watchful runs.

Action Jackson

The former Tracy Village batter has made a seamless switch to the reigning premiers so far.

Jackson has crafted a pair of half centuries from two Premier Grade innings, and both have been crucial to Districts’ two wins.

You could argue his 72, out of a team total of 157, was the difference as the Crocs got home by 57 runs at Gerry Wood Oval in Round 2.

Jackson also top scored in Round 1 with 79 against PINT as the Districts compiled 6/256 at DXC.

With the Crocs losing the batting talent of Sam Kerber, Dean Fry, Corey Kelly and Xavier Crone, Jackson is more than pulling his weight to fill the void.

Kerber and co

Daniel and Sam Kerber both played with Southern Districts in 2022. Picture: AAP/Emma Brasier.

Former skipper Jacob Dickman is back in Darwin colours after playing just a handful of games in 2022.

And Dickman blasted 59 off just 41 balls against the NT Academy on April 27 in a T20 fixture.

Coming up against Tracy Village in Round 3, the former South Australian Redback and his Eagles will be looking for momentum after a bye and an abandoned match so far this season.

Meanwhile, he might not quite be a complete run machine like his brother Sam, but Dan Kerber could prove to be a handy acquisition for the Eagles while he’s in the Top End at least.

Along with premiership captain Matt Hammond, Kerber switched from Freds Pass to Kahlin Oval for the 2023 season, after a brief campaign which yielded plenty of double figure scores without a major innings of note.

The top order batter, who won a South Australian Premier Grade premiership with Adelaide University in 2020-21, will help fill the breach after the departure of Dylan Brasher and Dhruv Kant.

However, it’s unclear how long he will play for the Eagles this season.