You'd be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated cricketer than George Town's Jade King.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Saints stalwart will become the first 400-gamer in the club's history on Sunday.
George Town's B grade side is taking on Beauty Point at Crothers Oval in the TCL.
King, 39, said it was an honour to reach the milestone.
He has played A, B and C grade across his career and mostly in the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association.
"It makes me proud because I'm born-and-bred here, I've played here for many years and it means a lot to become the first player to play 400 games for the George Town Cricket Club," he said.
"It's something I'm proud of and something I'll look back on no doubt when I retire."
King said playing in six premierships had been a highlight.
"The one that stands out to me is the 2000/01 premiership in second grade when we played Mowbray and it was the first one I ever played in as an 18-year-old kid," he said.
"We had a very good team. I was lucky to make the team and we were very well coached that year.
"(Ross Clark) was probably the best coach I've ever had."
Another great day was when he made his only century, finishing 101 not out.
"It was a bit of a tricky wicket to start with so I just started throwing the bat at the ball and got a few fours away and got lucky and ended up getting 100," he said.
His best ever bowling figures came earlier this summer when he claimed 7/16, including a hat-trick.
It's a been busy week for King in the lead up to the game with friends congratulating him on the milestone.
"It's been pretty full-on, especially replying to a lot of text messages, Facebook messages and a few Snapchats," he said.
The one-club player, who also played juniors with the Saints, has barely missed a game during his career.
"Once I put my name down I try not to miss any games at all, I try not let my team down," he said.
"I think I've only ever missed two or three games of cricket in 24-25 years."
He's provided great leadership at the club being skipper for about 18 years. He's captained the most wins for the Saints.
He has also led multiple third grade flags and won a slew of best and fairest awards over the years.
The mateship cricket offers is what has kept King playing so long.
And the left-arm medium pace bowler has been lucky to not have many serious injuries along the way.
Dean Gibbons, who is the only other Saint to have played more than 300 club games, praised King's leadership at the club.
"When he's been captaining teams - if you were a couple of players short, he'd be on the phone to any of his mates to come and give him a hand to play cricket - he's that sort of fella," he said.
"If he was in charge of a team, there was always a team on the park regardless."
George Town coach Jack Hill praised King's dedication.
"When I first started out playing senior cricket he was definitely a role model and a senior figure even back then," he said.
"His dedication to the club for more than 20 years is an absolute credit to him.
"He's an old-school cricketer and what I mean by that - he's one of those prepared guys.
"He's ready to go the night before and has his gear packed and to still have that passion for the game after 400 - he'll probably play six or 700."
There's a special presentation for King at 10:30am on Sunday with all club members, supporters and sponsors welcome.
Jade King at a glance:
- Runs: 6137
- Highest score: 101*
- Wickets: 402
- Best bowling: 7/16
- Six premierships
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner