By JARROD POTTER
FROM the first ball on Saturday, St Mary’s cricketer Eddie Niculici knew he was set for a big day.
St Mary’s medium-fast pacer Niculici, 20, from Dandenong, was unstoppable against Dingley in a DDCA C-Grade match over the weekend, as he claimed all 10 wickets is an achievement St Mary’s Cricket Club’s will never forget.
Niculici was on fire as he took a wicket with the first ball of the match en route to the rarest of all cricket feats – taking 10/35 off 20.1 overs – bowling unchanged at Carroll Reserve – and was so destructive it left Dingley all out for only 68.
After a dogged last-wicket Dingley partnership, Niculici earned the magic 10th scalp and was mobbed by St Mary’s fans and players alike as he added his name into the 10-wicket club.
“Not sure how to feel… I don’t think it hit me until we came off the ground and everyone was congratulating me,” Niculici said.
“I thought probably my favourite was the first wicket as it was the very first ball of the day – first ball, caught in slips, it was a great catch and it got us all pumped up.”
St Mary’s 1994/95 Turf 1 premiership side were on hand for Niculici’s achievement as their reunion was also celebrated on Saturday – and the young quick thought it was fantastic to have their support as the wickets started piling up to try and ease his worsening nerves.
“I think when I started hitting seven, that was when the nerves started pumping definitely and it just kept ticking and ticking,” Niculici said.
“The last wicket though, they held in there for quite a while so that was getting frustrating.”
Just before the tea break Niculici finished the feat and etched his name into club and DDCA record books. He can’t really remember the magic moment he took the last wicket – either bowled or caught behind – but he clearly can remember the sigh of relief as his monster spell and gargantuan achievement was completed.
“To be honest I can’t even remember if it was bowled or caught behind – there were too many to keep track of,” Niculici said.
“By the end of it I was pretty tired – it was the first ball of the 21st over and it was a great relief that it was finally over as it was dragging on.
“Just relief and excitement and a bit of not believing it could have happened – it can’t get better than that.”
Who knows, with the potential of an outright victory still on the cards, he might add to his 10-wicket haul and knock his bowling average even lower than his current 12.8 per wicket.
Niculici’s St Mary’s team is top of the ladder and unbeaten in DDCA C Grade and he wanted to thank John ‘Lovey’ Sacco and Michael Storti – his mid-on and mid-off – for pumping up between deliveries and overs and especially his mum and step-dad for their support throughout his time in junior and senior cricket.
