‘All I ever wanted to do was play cricket’: Katandra’s Daniel Sartori brings up 250 games of first XI Victorian Premier Cricket

So legendary were his exploits that two months ago he was selected as one of 12 players in Cricket Shepparton’s Team of the Century, solidifying his standing as one of the best talents the region has seen.

For his children, the accomplishments of their father would have been a tough act to follow.

But that has not fazed his son Daniel, who in the past 17 years has forged his own path in Melbourne Premier Cricket.

A classy opening batter, he has been a regular feature at two of Melbourne’s most iconic clubs, playing 193 games for Richmond from 2006 to 2019 before making the move to Footscray for the past three seasons.

This Saturday, Sartori will complete his 250th game of first grade Premier Cricket, coincidentally against his former club Richmond.

Reflecting on his cricketing journey, Sartori said it was an honour to reach this milestone.

“When I actually saw the number (of games I’d played) I thought ‘that is a pretty big number’,” Sartori said.

“I’ve obviously been playing for a long time, I started off at Richmond when I was 18 and am at Footscray now some 17 years later, and there’s been a lot of hard work along the way to get to where I am at now.

“But looking back now I am pretty happy to get to the milestone, you never set out to play for milestones, but it is certainly a nice number when you get there.”

Like many country cricketers, Sartori’s love of the game stemmed from following his dad out to the local club, which in this case was Katandra.

He explained how important his formative years were in his development as a cricketer.

“My first love as a kid was playing cricket and, now all these years later, I still absolutely love it,” he said.

“My whole childhood was cricket with a little bit of footy in between, all I remember of those days living in Katandra was getting home from school and playing cricket with Dad outside the shop he and Mum owned for hours.

“So basically from there all I ever wanted to do was play cricket, I managed to play with my dad and brother growing up which was something I was very lucky to do.

“Those early days really made me into the cricketer I am today.”

After playing a handful of A-grade matches for Katandra and Shepparton Youth Club, Sartori then made the move to Melbourne to complete his education at the prestigious Melbourne Grammar School.

But once his time playing school cricket had ended he was faced with a tough decision of where to take his cricket talents to next.

Richmond and, funnily enough, some familiar names came knocking.

“At the time Aiden Blizzard was at Richmond, so I had a bit of connection there through Shepparton Youth Club, and one of my dad’s best mates, from when he played down at North Melbourne, was a coach in Steve Maddocks,” he said.

“What made playing at Richmond so special was just the blokes I played with, it took me a while to get established as a ones player, but just having that support around me at the club made it such a great place to be.

“Over my time at the club I played with a couple of Test cricketers, a lot of first-class cricketers, and I learned so much about being a consistent player at Richmond.”

Throughout his time at Richmond he struck five centuries, 27 half-centuries and a whopping 5010 runs in the first XI.

During his time at the Tigers he also featured in a first XI premiership in 2011-12, which he said was by far the highlight of his career to date.

While it looked like he would retire a one-club player, in 2019 circumstances drew him to make the shift to Footscray Cricket Club, a move he admitted was one of the best he had made.

“There were a number of factors that went into the move, but the biggest thing was family and travel,” he said.

“Once I left Richmond I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do, but one of my great mates, Alan White, took up the coaching role at Footscray and that’s how the move came about.

“Footscray has been a great club for me, it’s a bit of an older group which has suited me, and we have had a lot of success since I arrived, only missing the finals once.

“Individually I have played some good cricket there as well and really thrived in the environment.”

Season 2022-23 has been particularly fruitful for the Katandra export, having hit 440 runs at an average of 62.86 with two centuries along the way.

So when thinking about the future, he said he was confident he still had a lot of good cricket left in him.

“I still care about the game, but it is not the most important thing in my life anymore, which is my family, so it is more playing for enjoyment, which I think has helped in my performance,” he said.

“I’m not really sure what the future holds, but for the moment I am still really enjoying my cricket at Footscray and I would like to keep going.

“But obviously there are lots of other factors to work through with my family, but I will definitely be playing somewhere and it is looking like Footscray.”

But for right now his focus is on this weekend, as he returns to the crease against his old side, currently on 12 not-out.

He said he was thrilled to be able to share the milestone with his former teammates and hoped he could celebrate with a big score.

“The way it has all worked out has been amazing, I missed a game a couple of weeks ago because I was sick and then after that we worked out my 250th would be against Richmond,” he said.

“We are in a pretty good position and it was good to get through the tricky 10 overs last week, but they have a pretty good bowling line-up, so it won’t be easy.

“But if we get through the first hour, hopefully that will set us up for a good day.”