SHIFTING his mindset and feeling refreshed appears to have worked wonders for Aidan Calarco’s cricket.
Following two seasons mostly away from the game, the 27-year-old has broken through for his maiden First Division century, 12 years after his top flight SCA debut for Gol Gol.
Calarco starred on Saturday with a knock of 114 as his side claimed a 76-run win over Nichols Point at Alcheringa, also sharing in a huge 171-run stand with Shacaya Thomas (76).
While his innings still rattled along at a strike of 90.48 including 11 boundaries and two sixes, the hard hitter said the ton, following eight previous half-centuries in First Division, came from a change in attitude.
“I probably throw my wicket away a fair bit, I can get too caught up in the moment but it was good to sort of set that aside and leave that part of my career behind,” he said.
“I also put a bit of pressure on myself to perform over the years but now I feel like I’ve moved away from that kind of thinking.
“I wanted to change who I was as a cricketer and grow into a better player. I was really trying to face as many balls as I could and grind it out, instead of just trying to hit quick runs.
“Being up the top of the order has probably given me a bit more of an opportunity to do that, where as in years gone by I’ve batted anywhere from three down to eight and sort of chucked into it to be more aggressive and hit boundaries.
“I think opening has always suited me but we’ve had some really good cricketers who have played in those top three or four positions over the years.”
Calarco said at the end of the 2019/20 season he’d just “had enough” and felt he needed to take a break from cricket.
“I’d been playing first division cricket since I was 15, so 10 years straight of that plus footy, other things, working flat stick, it just got too much,” he said.
“With the COVID break I thought it was a good chance to have a couple years off. I played a handful of twos games when they were short over the last few years.
“Coming back this year I was pretty keen and a bit more refreshed… having that fresh start was great.”
Calarco played in Gol Gol’s last premiership in the 2011/12 campaign and hopes his side can be back around that mark again this season.
“We’ve been around the mark for a lot of my career,” he said.
“I think my first full season we won a flag and I’ve lost two or three over the time. Watching the boys last year it did really hurt and I just wanted to come back and see if I can help out in any way.”
