Steven "Steve" Nikitaras (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ''Stavros Nikitaras''; born 31 August 1970) is a former professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who played at Australian domestic level for both

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. A left-arm

pace bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

, he went on to play for the Greek national side after the end of his professional career. Nikitaras was born in

Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

, a suburb of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

, to Greek emigrant parents. He did not take up playing cricket until he was 19.Steve Nikitaras player profile
– ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 January 2013. Batting right-handed and bowling left-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

, Nikitaras was shortly afterwards selected for a Wollongong representative team, and within a year had progressed to the

Sydney grade cricket NSW Premier Cricket (formerly known as Sydney Grade Cricket) is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs that had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis voted to create a form ...

competition. From the 1993–94 season onwards, he began to be regularly selected for New South Wales second XI matches.Miscellaneous matches played by Steve Nikitaras
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 January 2013. Nikitaras made his debut for the senior team in a

Mercantile Mutual Cup The One-Day Cup, known as the Marsh One-Day Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an Australian domestic List A 50-over limited-overs cricket tournament. It has had many different names, formats and teams since the inaugural 1969-1970 season. Initi ...

match against

during the 1996–97 season.List A matches played by Steve Nikitaras (14)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 January 2013. In the match, played in October 1996 at

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval is a multi-use sporting facility in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is also used for Australian rules football, rugby league, ...

, he failed to take a wicket, but was selected in another one-day match five days later, against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and again went wicketless. Nikitaras' inaugural

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Sh ...

match came against Queensland the following month.First-class matches played by Steve Nikitaras (4)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 January 2013. In the match, played at

Bankstown Oval Bankstown Oval (officially known as Bankstown Memorial Oval) Bankstown Council Sporting Faciliti ...

, Sydney, he took 3/76 in Queensland's first innings opening the bowling alongside

Phil Alley Phillip John Sydney Alley (born 26 July 1970 in Orange, New South Wales) is an Australian former cricket player. Alley played 31 First class cricket and 8 List A matches for New South Wales and South Australia. See also * List of New South W ...

. Although he appeared in several more matches during the 1996–97 season, including against a touring England "A" team, Nikitaras did not play at all at state level during the 1997–98 season, and transferred to Western Australia the following season. Playing for Perth in the local grade cricket competition, he made his debut for Western Australia towards the end of the 1998–99 season, in a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland at the

WACA Ground The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...

. Bowling first change behind

Jo Angel Jo Angel (born 22 April 1968) is an Australian former cricketer who played in four Test matches and three One Day Internationals between 1993 and 1995. A giant fast bowler standing tall, Angel took 485 first-class wickets, including 445 in Au ...

and

Matthew Nicholson Matthew James Nicholson (born 2 October 1974) is an Australian former cricketer who played in one Test match in 1998 and over 100 first-class games for New South Wales, Western Australia, Northamptonshire and Surrey. A native of the Sydney subu ...

, he did not take a wicket, and failed to play another match at state level during the season. However, the following season was Nikitaras' most successful at state level. He gained regular selection in Mercantile Mutual Cup matches, playing seven out of eight matches in the tournament, and taking seven wickets, third in Western Australia's bowling aggregates behind Angel and

Darren Wates Darren Jude Wates (born 2 July 1977) is a former Australian cricketer who played first-class and limited overs cricket for Western Australia. Wates attended Aquinas College, Perth and the University of Western Australia. He started his career ...

. Nikitaras was particularly valued for his low

economy rate In cricket, a bowler's economy rate is the average number of runs they have conceded per over bowled. In most circumstances, the lower the economy rate is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare ...

, conceding just 4.00 runs per over to finish with Western Australia's best rate and the equal-fifth-best rate in the competition (for bowlers with over five wickets). His best bowling figures, 3/30 from ten overs, came against the

Canberra Comets The ACT Comets (also known as the Canberra Comets, previously the Federal Capital Territory) are a cricket team that represent the Australian Capital Territory. The Comets are the premier team of the Cricket ACT who are affiliated with Cricke ...

in early January 2000. Despite his good form during the 1999–2000 season, which had helped him secure a contract from the

Western Australian Cricket Association The Western Australian Cricket Association (known as the WACA) is the governing body for cricket in Western Australia. The WACA was formed on 5 November 1885. In 1893 the association opened the WACA Ground. Elite cricket The WACA is responsible ...

, Nikitaras played only four matches for Western Australia the following season, including a match against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

on their 2000–01 tour of Australia. Having failed to gain a contract for the 2001–02 season, Nikitaras signed with the

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

for the

2002 English cricket season The 2002 English cricket season was the 103rd in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Surrey were crowned champions but 2001 county champions Yorkshire were relegated. Yorkshire did, however, win the C&G Trophy. India ...

, on a one-year contract. As a Greek citizen, he was not counted as an overseas player, under the terms of the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associatio ...

. Struggling with injury, he played only two matches during the season, both in the

Second XI Championship The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually ever ...

. Having first played for the side in 1990, against Guernsey, Nikitaras represented the Greek national cricket team at several tournaments after the conclusion of his first-class playing career. In June 2011, he captained Greece at the 2011 European T20 Championship Division Two tournament, with the side finishing sixth overall after losing to

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in the fifth-place playoff.

Personal life

His son Blake Nikitaras has also played first-class cricket for

New South Wales cricket team The New South Wales men's cricket team (formerly named NSW Blues) are an Australian men's professional First-class cricket, first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The team competes in the Australian first class cricket compe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikitaras, Steve 1970 births Living people Australian cricketers Australian people of Greek descent Cricketers from Wollongong Greek cricketers New South Wales cricketers Western Australia cricketers