After a slow start, David Fitzgerald's big break in state cricket arrived in 1997-98 when South Australia's selectors afforded him the chance to enjoy an extended run as an opening batsman for the Redbacks. Two successive centuries duly arrived in his first three games of the season and he has rarely had need to look over his shoulder since. A composed right hander who is particularly strong off the back foot and hits pull, cut and hook strokes with great authority, Fitzgerald has stood tall as the state team has battled to re-assert itself in the wake of the departure of a number of the key players from its Sheffield Shield-winning squad of 1995-96. He has produced a number of outstanding innings and his effort in scoring an unbeaten 111 against Pakistan in 1999-2000, becoming the first South Australian player in seven seasons to carry his bat in the process, will long be remembered. Runs haven't always come as easily - he moved to Adelaide in 1995 following two seasons of frustration during which he had failed to establish himself in his native Western Australia - but his career has been expertly resurrected in the years since. (John Polack, August 2001)

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