Not all potential fairytale stories have a happy ending.
As James Quinn walked back for the last ball of his allotted seventh over against Devon Meadows in D Grade on Saturday, the chances of claiming a famous 600th wicket for the Officer Cricket Club had all but evaporated.
His mum and dad, Maryanne and Peadar, waited intently, while an excited group of nieces and nephews, and Quinn’s teammates, were all wishing for the magic moment of the game.
Would he claim wicket 600, or would the waiting game begin for at least another seven days?
Quinn went back and bowled the perfect delivery to Devon Meadows left-hander Rhys Watson, the ball crashing through his defences and rattling his stumps.
It ended the game as a contest, the Panthers rolled for 57 chasing 6/169, and triggered joyous celebrations for Quinn and his loyal supporters.
He finished with 2/17 from seven tidy overs and had entered his name into the record books.
“It was a struggle on the weekend to think about getting those two wickets; it was really difficult and I didn’t think I would get it in the end,” the 46-year-old confessed.
“It came down to the last ball of the seven overs I could bowl, and there was only one wicket left, and I ended up bowling him with that last ball.
“I didn’t think it would happen because the batter had faced 23 balls and had played me really well prior to that.
“The boys in the slips were getting into his ear, and he ended up missing it, so I think I owe them a thank you as well.”
The Officer local has a unique bowling action that he has hand-crafted in over 30 years in the game.
He aims to constantly evolve to keep himself ahead of the pack.
“I’ve never watched myself bowl, but people that do watch me bowl always ask me how I bowl medium pace out the back of my hand,” he said.
“It makes the ball drop really quickly and some players don’t know how to face it.
“I do work on different ways to bowl, because once you play players a lot they start to work you out.
“I work on changing things up and that keeps the game exciting.”
Quinn has played in four flags for Officer throughout his journey, the highlight being a Sub-District premiership against Cardinia.
And despite taking a monumental number of wickets throughout this career; it’s two innings with the bat that stand out as the memorable moments.
“I played in a grand final with my brother Peter, in Sub-District in 2013/14, which was our top grade of cricket back then,” Quinn explained.
“It was his first premiership and we had a really good team, with Brett and Adam Reid and other good players like that.
“It was great to play in a premiership with my brother; we were a pretty strong team back then.
“I love to field and bowl, but hate batting; it’s not my strongest suit.
“We played Tooradin during the season and had a massive batting collapse; and I came in at 11.
“My brother was on 48 and we made a 54-run partnership together.
“Pete made exactly 100 and we ended up making 250.
“Then in the grand final that year I did a similar thing with another teammate.”
Quinn came to the crease with Officer in trouble at 9/127 against a rampant Cardinia.
He made five runs that day, sharing a 58-run partnership for the last wicket with David Collins that propelled the Bulls target to 185.
The Bullants then steamrolled the Bulls for 75, with Brett Reid and Collins bowling their team to victory.
It was an extra special victory for Quinn, who loves Officer and cricket in equal doses.
“I played my junior cricket there and I just love the place,” the life member said.
“I played juniors with people like Ben and Greg Tivendale when Officer started juniors; and I’ve loved playing cricket ever since.
“I enjoy playing with my teammates that I play with each year, even though I know I can get a bit frustrated when I’m bowling and involved in the game.
“I love the team morale and I love trying to help the young kids that come into our team and make them better cricketers.
“I enjoy the competition and banter with the opposition, and it’s been great to have that to look forward to every summer since I was a kid.
“On the weekend I was umpiring and one of their young players asked if I could come on and bowl for them; but I told him I’m on the opposition side so I don’t think I’ll be able to do that.”
Quinn said he has no plans to hang up the whites just yet.
“I’ll try to keep going, I like to keep myself fit with boundary umpiring during footy season so I’m fit for cricket each year,” he said.
“I’m hoping to keep playing as long as I can play really.
“I’m really appreciative of my teammates over the years and appreciative of everyone that has been involved at Officer.”
The 600-wicket taker conceded that Saturday was one of the more special days of his career; sharing a special milestone with excited family and friends.
“I was really glad that my parents came down to watch it on Saturday, and a lot of my nieces and nephews came down as well,” he said.
“We had an area set up for the family and when I got the last wicket, I could hear them talking about how I finally got the wicket that they had come to see.
“It was really special to have the family there on the day.”
