WEST veteran Shane Driscoll admits he’s usually a happier version of himself in the summer.
His love of cricket helps provide a physical and mental outlet on weekends after the hard days of laying floors, even if the odd amount of cortisone is required to help the aching shoulders.
The 45-year-old bleeds green and white and last weekend saluted for the triple century of senior games for his club.
His 300th contest continues today as West look to chase down the 193-run target set by Mildura East at John Hall Oval.
Since relocating to Sunraysia at age 13, Driscoll has been a mainstay with West, winning multiple premierships in various grades as well as taking more than 550 senior wickets, putting him second in club history behind only the great Kevin Freckleton with more than 700. He’s still going strong, with 23 First Division wickets for the current campaign.
The beloved bowler said it was a nice milestone to reach, although it “certainly shows you’ve been in the game a while”.
When queried as to what keeps him coming back, Driscoll said he identified two things — his son Josh and a good work-life balance.
“I notice I’m always happier during summer because I’ve got an outlet with cricket,” he said.
“In winter, you get the blues because there’s nothing to do, I can’t play footy or anything like that and there’s no indoor cricket anymore. It just keeps you going.”
Driscoll said it was his 14-year-old son who convinced him to continue playing First Division for the 2022/23 season.
“I sort of wanted to step back and play some cricket with him and I talked to him about that at the start of this season but he said ‘no Dad I want you to play at the highest level’,” he said.
“He was encouraging me to do that and of course I want him to play at the highest level he can too, so I followed my own advice to him and hopefully I can inspire him a bit as well.
“I’d like to think we’ll get to play together soon. He’s started to make some runs in Second Division and is becoming pretty consistent, and he’s improved a lot with his bowling and he’s got technique for batting and the mental side of it is getting there now.”
There have been many highlights across Driscoll’s career since getting his first taste of senior cricket at age 15 in the 1993/94 season, including a First Division premiership in 2004/05 and captaining West to a Second Division flag a decade later.
He also lauded club greats John Hall, Bill Sauer and Richard Chamberlain for their fun and welcoming attitude that’s helped keep him around the club.
Luckily for Driscoll, his career was on an upward trajectory after his debut.
“The biggest memory of my first match, which was a bit of an eye opener, came from old Shane Hurley,” he said.
“I ran myself out when I was batting with him for the last wicket partnership and I copped a bit of stick for that on the way back to the sheds, but it certainly woke me up to playing at senior level.
“Some of my favourite memories include that Second Division premiership against Nichols Point, just a year before they came into First Division in the SCA. I took the first five wickets of their innings, which set us up from there. That was pretty satisfying win beating pretty much a First Division side with a Second Division team.
“Then there was the First Division premiership under Mark O’Donnell in ‘04/05. We were second last on the ladder around Christmas time but we got a couple of outrights on the way home to finish on top of the ladder and knocked off Mildura Settlers in the grand final, which was pretty satisfying.”
West are currently in fourth place and lead a finals chasing pack that includes Coomealla Wentworth, Mildura East and Merbein, but Driscoll believes his side can be dangerous over the final two rounds.
He didn’t hesitate to say his side can absolutely make finals and cause some damage.
“We’ve got to back our group, we’ve stayed in touch with finals yet we probably haven’t all been firing,” he said.’
“We’re that close to getting it right but we just need a little consistency from a few guys with the bat and we’ll be right up there.”
