The man has been carrying City Colts through the current Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket competition with an individual performance for the record books - and, incredibly, it might not be enough to get his club into the finals.

Gardner brought up his seventh straight BOIDC score for 50-plus runs on Saturday when he notched up a game-high 87 in the loss against Bathurst City.

But the success has come as a huge surprise to Gardner.

The Colts star was coming back into the sport after several years away from full-time play - last playing as part of the Coffs Harbour competition - and simply wanted to chip in with a couple of runs wherever he could.

"I wasn't sure what to expect this year. Coming back into it I just wanted to apply myself as best as I could, and things just worked out as they progressed," he said.

"At my age you don't really know what to expect or how you'd go so I had to work that bit more, concentrate a little harder and commit to playing well for the team.

"It had been a couple of years since I'd had a hit and coming back into it felt a little foreign at first. Cricket is such a mental game though, and if you can that side of it right then things start to feel more comfortable."

Gardner's season tally of 608 runs puts him 209 clear of nearest rival Blake Weymouth.

Funnily enough, Gardner's BOIDC return began with a duck but his seven innings since then have made him a runaway candidate for player of the season.

"It's not a tally I keep a close eye on. My focus is doing what must be done for the team. There's no doubt there's occasions where you feel good but you get out to a good ball or you make the wrong shot selection, so luck does play a part in it," he said.

"I'm just happy to contribute runs and be out there playing again. Who knows what will happen moving forward? It's great being out there with your mates and having a good time in the field.

"We've played really well right through the season, and if you look at the games we've lost we've only lost a lot of them narrowly. It's a good learning experience for us. We've just fallen short on a couple of occasions and that shows what we need to improve at.

"We've been very competitive but just missed those couple of wins."