Westbury veteran Nick Spencer didn't make his teammates wait long for a celebration.
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Travelling to Wynyard last weekend with 399 first-grade club wickets to his name, Spencer saw the third ball of the Tigers' innings snaffled up by a diving Jesse Digney in gully.
A principal accountant in Launceston, the 39-year-old father-of-three is renowned for keeping tidy figures and finished with 2-15 from five overs.
"It was good to get [the 400-wicket milestone] out of the road early to be honest and it was a good catch as well," Spencer said.
"It hasn't been a happy hunting ground down at Wynyard for a couple of years either, I actually half-expected to walk away from there still stuck on 399."
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Starting his career with ex-NTCA outfit Old Scotch where he collected Launceston star Andy Belsak as his maiden A-grade scalp, Spencer spent a couple of years at Riverside before beginning his long association with the Shamrocks.
He captained the club for the second half of a 10-year stint with Westbury and took a break before returning in the 2011-12 season, finishing top of the league bowling charts as the Shamrocks won a breakthrough flag.
The paceman took a four-year break through middle of the 2010s before making one last comeback in 2018-19 - "the final John Farnham tour" - and has been a crucial cog in the Shamrocks' consecutive one and two-day doubles.
Midway through his final season, Spencer sits in second spot in the club's all-time bowling charts, about 150 wickets behind former state player Ian Crowden.
He credits his family with paving the way for his stellar Cricket North career.
"The thing that's made me be able to play as long as I have is the support of my wife [Katrina] and family," he said.
"My young fella basically shadows me around at cricket now - he comes to training and game days and things, he gets the same kit and is fully kitted out and supporting and the girls get there whenever they can.
"We had a bus trip to Wynyard last weekend and my wife sent down my Dad and my son to come and watch it which I didn't know was happening, so that was really nice that she organised that without me knowing."
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Westbury skipper Dan Murfet said his go-to quick was as valuable to club off the ground as he is on it.
"Spence is a guy that's been very loyal to the Westbury Cricket Club and has done a lot of work behind the scenes on a committee level and on a personal level as well," Murfet said.
"The respect that he's earned from people around the club, both players and volunteers, is a testament to the person that he is.
"To be only the second ever person to pass 400 first-grade wickets is a special achievement and speaks volumes about the quality bowler he is, but the greatest thing is that he's just a good a person as well."
SUSTAINED SUCCESS
Nick Spencer's 2011-20
- 2011-12: 11 matches, 35 wickets at 10.83 (1st in CN)
- 2012-13: 18 matches, 48 wickets at 10.42 (1st in CN)
- 2013-14: 11 matches, 41 wickets at 7.85 (2nd in CN)
- 2014-18: DNP
- 2018-19: 13 matches, 18 wickets at 12.28 (11th in CN)
- 2019-20: 11 matches, 26 wickets at 14.69 (1st in CN)