When Xavier Crone boarded the plane for Perth on Monday he thought he was destined to be "running the cordial" for his Victorian cricket squad team-mates.
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A touch over 48 hours later the 21-year-old from Strathfieldsaye was mobbed by those team-mates in the middle of the WACA after he claimed his first wicket in state cricket - the scalp of Western Australian star Marcus Stoinis.
Crone went on to dismiss Ashton Turner as well and he finished with 2-60 off nine overs as the Vics lost to WA in a rain-shortened Marsh Cup clash.
It was a whirlwind few days for the promising fast bowler and an experience he'll never forget.
"I found out on Friday that I'd be flying to Perth in the squad of 13,'' Crone said.
"There were four (fast) bowlers flying over, so I though there was a good chance that I'd be running the cordial. At that stage I didn't have any nerves because I didn't think I'd be playing.
"Then I found out Wednesday morning that I was playing which was pretty cool."
Then the nerves did set in.
Crone's first appearance in Victorian colours was on a batsman friendly WACA deck against a batting line-up including Shaun Marsh, Stoinis and Cam Bancroft.
"It made it pretty special to debut against some class players,'' Crone said.
"To bowl to Shaun Marsh, Cam Bancroft and Marcus Stoinis, who have played lots of international cricket, was a great experience."
Crone's first ball for the Vics didn't quite work out how he planned, with Bancroft top-edging a short ball over the third man boundary for six.
"I thought the best way to get into the game was to charge in and bang in a short one,'' Crone said.
"I bowled the ball I probably wanted, but I forgot to check the field and in hindsight I would have had the third man a bit finer.
"Instead of being a hit for six I could have got a pole first ball which would have been nice."
Bancroft and Marsh took 20 runs off Crone's first two overs.
"My first two overs were a bit ordinary...I was pretty nervous, but after my second or third over I started to settle down and had better control of the ball,'' he said.
After an initial spell of 0-22 off three overs, Crone returned to the bowling crease and wasn't scared to pepper Stoinis with short-pitched balls.
A quicker ball beat the former Victorian squad member for pace and he skied an attempted pull shot straight up in the air.
Crone was left to stand under it.
"The ball went high and was spinning, so I had all the time in the world to think about all the things that could go wrong,'' Crone said.
"It was more a relief than anything when I caught it because I was worried I was going to drop it."
Crone's team-mates were quick to congratulate him on his first wicket.
"They're a great bunch of lads. I really enjoyed sharing the dressing room yesterday with them,'' he said.
"I really enjoyed spending time with them over the pre-season and I get on well with them."
After getting a taste of cricket at the next level, Crone can't wait to pull on the Victorian cap again.
"There's a couple of Sheffield Shield games now before we have another block of one-day games that I'd love to be involved in and get that first win,'' Crone said.
For now, Crone returns to Premier Cricket action with Carlton this Saturday.
After winning three of their four one-day matches to start the summer, the reigning premier Blues start their first two-day clash of the season away to Casey-South Melbourne on Saturday.
Crone said another former BDCA player - Brayden Stepien - has been the backbone of the Blues' batting in the first four rounds with 222 runs at an average of 74.
"We had a really disappointing game round one against Essendon, but since then we've got back to what we did well last year,'' Crone said.
"Steppo is leading the way with the bat and is batting as well as I've ever seen him bat.
"He's batting with what seems to be a more mature head on his shoulders and it's been really great to watch."
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