SOK urges local focus, makes cheeky Warne comparison

Newly retired spinner Steve O'Keefe has urged New South Wales to invest in their home-grown bowling stocks rather than recruit a player from interstate to replace him in the Blues line-up.

O'Keefe called time on his 15-year first-class career last weekend after Cricket NSW informed the 35-year-old he would not be offered a playing contract for the 2020-21 season.

The left-arm orthodox spinner also played nine Tests for Australia, and finished his 88-game first-class tenure with 301 wickets at an average of 24.66 including career-best match figures of 12-70 against India at Pune in 2017.

But his opportunities were regularly restricted by injuries and his role with NSW often limited as understudy to incumbent Test off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

O'Keefe acknowledged that while he was disappointed by, and disagreed with the contract decision, he was forever grateful for the faith shown in him by state and national hierarchies.

For that reason, he hopes that the role as Blues' second spinner, who is also called to fill the lead part when Lyon is absent or unavailable, is filled by one of the aspiring young NSW bowlers who O'Keefe believes have the talent to succeed at first-class level.

He named leg-spinner Dan Fallins, teenage leggie Tanveer Sangha, off-spinning allrounders Arjun Nair and Param Uppal and South Africa-born Sydney Thunder regular Chris Green as local candidates likely to push for his vacated berth next summer.

Australia limited-overs leg-spinner Adam Zampa has also been touted as a chance to return to his home state after seven summers in South Australia, although it has been reported that Zampa now seems more likely to shift to Victoria.

O'Keefe acknowledged that while it was up to Cricket NSW to finalise their list of contracted players for next season, he hoped they might show the same faith in up-and-coming spinners in their own state as afforded to him when he made his first-class debut for the Blues as a 20-year-old in 2005.

"I'd love for them to stay put with what they've got," O'Keefe said when asked if NSW should look locally or further afield to bolster their spin stocks.

"A player like me, they've invested 15 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get me to the point required and I'm indebted and thankful they’ve done that.

"I think if they're going to pump so much resources and time into the local product, then stick with it.

"It's one thing NSW has prided itself on – we very rarely go outside this state to find players.

"And when we do – one name that springs to mind is Simon Katich who came over from Western Australia (in 2002) – he is just the highest quality of cricketer and human being, and they are the sort of people if you're going to look outside the state.

"If I look at spinners, we've got them here.

"We just need to promote them, we need to back them, give them a bit of love and the support they need and hope they can turn it on."

O'Keefe also named Katich, who captained the Blues when the spinner made his Sheffield Shield debut against Tasmania in 2005, as one of the first people he contacted after announcing his retirement from first-class cricket last weekend.

That's because Katich was a central figure in one of O'Keefe's most treasured playing memories, which came in the spinner's fifth Shield match, against South Australia at Adelaide Oval in 2010.

O'Keefe recalled that his NSW (and later Australia) teammate Josh Hazlewood broke down before he was able to bowl a ball in SA's first innings, and Katich turned to his inexperienced left-arm finger spinner to take the new ball alongside Mitchell Starc.

Despite bowling around 25 overs, O'Keefe finished that day's play wicketless and was convinced he had let down his team so badly he had likely played his last game for the Blues until Katich and coach Matthew Mott (now in charge of the Australia women's team) singled him out for praise.

The pair then told their inexperienced spinner he would be key to their plans for the remainder of that game, in which O'Keefe ultimately claimed six wickets and helped lift NSW to an innings victory.

"We won the match, I had success … and that moment was really pivotal," O'Keefe said.

"I learned so much from leaders like Simon Katich and it gave me so much belief, so I'll always remember that as being a bit of a tipping point in my NSW career."

O'Keefe, who will continue playing with Sydney Sixers in the KFC Big Bash League and his Premier Cricket club (Manly) next season, claimed he harboured no on-field regrets from his 15-year playing career but admits he "could have behaved a bit better", a reference to a couple of off-field incidents that landed him in hot water.

Image Id: 9C66C0FCA5994DF78512A9F4B48DAE53 Image Caption: O'Keefe enjoyed a 15-year career at NSW // Getty

But despite claiming he was so committed to NSW that he "bleeds blue" and could therefore not consider donning the colours of another state even though he would like to continue playing at Shield level, his strongest memories remain his Test appearances.

In particular, it's the four-match series against India in 2017 that began with an Australian win on the back of his bowling heroics in Pune but ultimately finished as the latest in a lengthy string of series defeats stretching back to 1969 with just one exception (in 2004).

"Being able to play those four Tests in India gave me a new perspective on the game, to play four matches back-to-back and look at the game through a different lens," he said.

"Test cricket's not necessarily about playing well once, it's about doing it consistently over three or four games.

"And if I'm being honest about that Test series against India, I didn’t get better as the series went on – they (India's batters) evolved and got better at facing me, and I think that was the true challenge.

"It gave me an insight to go 'you have to be better than what you were if you want to win series against those guys'.

Image Id: 749B988298CD4EA0B5D280C7815EDB1F Image Caption: O'Keefe played nine Tests for Australia // Getty

"In my darkest moments, I should have played 100 Tests, that's how I feel.

"But in my great moments like this, I feel like nine Tests was more than I deserved and I'm so grateful for that opportunity."

And while O'Keefe, who has no immediate plans to pursue a coaching career but claims he will be available to any aspiring spin bowlers who approach him, holds no on-field regrets he can't erase haunting memories of his highest first-class score.

That came against Tasmania at Hobart in 2015, when the tailender batted more than three hours and reached 99 before admitting he "absolutely froze" and edged a catch from the bowling of Sixers teammate Jackson Bird.

"Unfortunately, every time I play for the Sixers it's a constant reminder with Jackson Bird there," he said.

"It was the flattest wicket in the world, I'm on 99 with the field spread and I nicked one to – you wouldn't even call it a slip, he was at a fourth slip.

"I remember it as clear as day, I just froze.

"I came off, Trevor Bayliss was the coach and he just laughed at me the whole way off the field and up in the rooms, then he just gave me a pat on the back.

"But I look down – (former Test spinners) Kerry O'Keeffe's highest score was 99, Gavin Robertson's highest was 99 in first-class cricket, Shane Warne's was 99.

"So if ever you want to use me and Warney in the same sentence, as much as he'd hate it, we've both got a highest first-class score of 99."