Matt Doric snares 300th Premier Cricket wicket in 150th appearance
Over the past five seasons no bowler has taken more Premier Cricket First XI wickets than Essendon’s Matt Doric and in the final game of the regular season he reached a special milestone.
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The best fast bowler in Victorian Premier Cricket? It’s hard to look past Matt Doric.
The Essendon star has been a wicket-taking machine since arriving on the scene with North Melbourne in 2010-11.
On Saturday, the paceman achieved a feat few in the state’s top-flight competition have – 300 wickets in 150 games.
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A standing ovation from the Windy Hill faithful greeted Doric when he found Monash batsman Marcus Berryman’s edge and Aaron Ayre’s safe hands at second slip.
“It’s a nice milestone to achieve, good reward for the effort you put in,” Doric said.
“The boys got around me, which was really good, it’s nice to tell you’re old man and with your mum watching.
“You don’t play for the personal stuff, I haven’t won a flag or anything, so that’s next on the list.”
Doric is Premier Cricket’s No.1 bowler in the past five seasons with 196 scalps.
Despite retiring last season Trent Lawford sits second with an incredible 193, while Dandenong’s James Nanopoulos has claimed 168.
Essendon captain Michael Hill spoke highly of his strike weapon and questioned why he hadn’t yet secured higher honours.
“Matt’s not ‘just a good player’, he’ll go down as one of the greats of the competition,” Hill said.
“He’s only 28, so I’d like to think he’s got another three or four seasons as a minimum and can get to 400 or 500 (wickets).
“He should have played higher. Cricket Victoria haven’t selected him, for what reason I don’t know.”
Despite being snubbed for much of his career, the veteran paceman still harboured hopes of pulling on the Big V.
“It burns inside me still. I’d love to keep pushing and eventually one day get a gig,” he said.
“But if it doesn’t come, it doesn’t come and I know I’ve tried my best and I’ve got the wickets there to show what I can do.”
Doric was a young star on the rise at Riddell’s Creek in the Gisborne District Cricket Association when he was spotted by the Kangaroos.
After 29 wickets in 2012-13, Essendon came calling and the rest, as they say, is history.
“When I was a youngster (North Melbourne) asked me to come down and train with them, so I played there for a few years,” he said.
“I used to play in the (Riddell’s Creek) juniors in the morning and then drive down and play for North Melbourne in the arvo.
“When I was over in England, Joycey (Brendan Joyce) gave me a call and said, ‘do you want to come to Essendon?’
“I couldn’t pass it up, playing alongside Clint McKay and Louis Cameron, it was a pretty good opportunity.
“Hopefully the body stays all right. I want to keep playing Premier Cricket — it’s the best premier competition in the world.”