Named range doesn't work with text?!

Hi,

I am currently using this named range:
=Logbook!$C$2:INDEX(Logbook!$C:$C,MATCH(DatRange,Logbook!$C:$C))
where DatRange = 999

which works fine because column C is all numbers

now I want the same for column A but it doesn't work because column A is all text (i.e. clicking the named column won't highlight anything and I can't use it in a chart)

Any quick help please?