Not yet 18 and still at high school, Simon Moore recalls defending an outright when he made his first grade debut with Cardiff.
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It was circa 1993, according to Moore, and he describes the last-round encounter as a "good introduction".
Since then at least two-and-a-half decades have gone by and Moore, now 43 and captain of Merewether, will once again be going around in the Newcastle District Cricket Association competition when the 2019-2020 season gets underway this weekend.
It's been quite the ride with titles, tons and this year's induction into the Australian Country Championships hall of fame, but for the moment there's no thoughts of any declarations by one of the regions most experienced and decorated campaigners.
"I still love the game," Moore said.
"The camaraderie. The competition. The challenge. And we've got a great culture at Merewether. There's a lot of young players as well and you try and help them as much as you can.
"The end of my career is closer than the start, that's for sure ... but I still love striving to be the best player I can be each year.
"I probably didn't have the best year last year and I want to be able to contribute more for the team.
"That gave me the drive and motivation to try and do a bit better this year."
Moore is up there with the top run scorers in the district's 130-year history history, including 972 when named Newcastle player of the year in 2015-2016.
Based on official association records, only Greg Geise (36) has notched up more first grade centuries with Moore next best on 23 alongside the likes of Jim DeCourcy, Mark Curry and Reg Beatty.
The former Newcastle and NSW Country representative skipper said a run of five consecutive premierships from 2011-2012 was "special".
And he hopes, one day down the track, to play a game of cricket with 10-year-old son Clancy.
In the meantime, Moore has Belmont to worry about at Townson Oval.
Long-time teammate Tim O'Neill remains in the XI while Tom Moore, no relation, will debut for the Lions.
Belmont are set to unveil English recruit Marcus O'Riordan.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the first of five straight one-day matches, paceman Parth Shah returns after a season off injured as Charlestown host Stockton and Northern Districts at Kahibah Oval.
Matt Willett takes the reins of Cardiff-Boolaroo, who travel to meet defending Tom Locker Cup champions Hamilton-Wickham at Passmore Oval.
Ethan Urquhart and Matt Somerville are set for their maiden first grade appearances with Toronto away to Wallsend.
Tom Allen and Andrew Shakespeare are unavailable for Wests, who are at home to City at Harker Oval.
All of the 40-over fixtures start at 12pm.
Meanwhile, City's Aidan Cahill was named in the Australian under-17 squad on Friday following the national age group championships in Mackay.