After the 2019-20 cricket season came to a premature end, Westbury superstar Dane Anderson thought he'd hit his last ball.
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Retiring from Cricket North competition and informing his Shamrock teammates, the 35-year-old had mentally packed up until TCL outfit Hadspen approached.
"I knew halfway through last season that it was going to be my last season of NTCA cricket, just with other commitments and the rest - I'm doing my cert 4 for plumbing down in Devonport two nights a week at the moment," Anderson said.
"I told the boys and the committee that I was finished up but I guess it's all happened pretty quickly that the Hadspen gig [came about]."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
Admitting that the at-times casual nature of the TCL competition attracted him to Hadspen, the 35-year-old, who was inducted into the Cricket North hall of fame in 2018, certainly isn't planning on severing his Westbury ties.
Anderson is looking to continue his role on the committee at the Shamrocks saying that "nothing's changed from the Westbury end from what I was going to do if I didn't play anywhere".
"I wasn't able to train for the last six weeks of last season heading into finals with Westbury and Hadspen train one night a week and my TAFE dates don't clash with that.
"That's my priority at the moment, to get my TAFE done over the next two years and that was my main reason for finishing up with Westbury.
"I don't like playing and not being around but at the same time, I'm turning 36 this year, you can't play forever and I thought it was time to finish up there."
Starting at Westbury as a 14-year-old before relocating to play for Glenorchy in Cricket Tasmania's Premier League competition in his early 20s, Anderson has been a club stalwart for the Shamrocks.
"I've given the past 20 years to Westbury, even when I was in Hobart, I'd try and play a game for them when I could and obviously the last nine years - to win five premierships in nine years - it's something that I'm proud of and there's certainly no ill feelings with Westbury," he said.
Playing 41 representative matches for Tasmania across all three formats in four seasons, the competitive spirit of the Chieftains' new recruit hasn't waned.
"I'm obviously looking forward to keeping on making some runs. It's been a pretty big change in the past two weeks, I've gone from putting the bat away to changing over to astro-turf cricket and going again with the new challenge."
Following Anderson's 570-run season for the Shamrocks as the second-highest run-scorer in the competition, Hadspen vice-president Chris Reissig said having a player of such a high standard joining the competition was a good thing.
"The club as a whole is over the moon to have the services of not only a brilliant cricketer and mentor but a great character from a winning culture that can help make us a better organisation," he said.
"Dane will play a key role in our Premier League top order and has committed to be a mentor for all our batters - men, women and juniors - working closely with coach Liam Reynolds, junior development officer Terry Plumbridge and women's coach Sithara Perera.
"The TCL is the perfect competition for any NTCA player looking to wind down their commitments."
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