Nick Larkin's Stars turn renews an Irish dream

If you thought the Melbourne Stars' green suited Nick Larkin on Thursday, then it's no coincidence.

Larkin may need to weigh up trading Stars green for the emerald hue of Ireland's national team ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year after a breakout innings to take his Big Bash League side to the competition decider underlined his enormous growth as a cricketer in the five years since he made his first-class debut for New South Wales.

Back in 2014, Larkin had only recently concluded two years playing club cricket in Ireland, an experience culminating in two appearances for the national team. He did not make the cut for the 2015 50-over World Cup squad, but marked improvement in his overall game over the past two seasons, including a similar trend of increasing returns for the Stars, could make him an attractive possible choice for Ireland ahead of the T20 World Cup on Australian soil in October and November.

It would be a vexing choice for Larkin, given that his performances for the Stars have made him an automatic BBL selection and choosing to take up the Irish option, through the passport he has from his mother's side of the family, would complicate his existing deals in Australia as a local player. Nevertheless, the lure of an international tournament looms large.

"I wouldn't be calling their selectors and saying 'pick me', it's all contract-based stuff and it changes my status here as well as a local cricketer, so there's a lot to consider, there's more than just a cricket decision in a sense," Larkin told ESPNcricinfo. "I've weighed all that up in the past and there's a reason I'm here right now as opposed to over there, but you never say never.

"It was more or less leading up to the 2015 World Cup and I came home after that second summer and was close to being in the mix for their side, but the way the world pans out I got an opportunity for the [New South Wales] Blues in October that year before the World Cup, got a hundred in my second game of Sheffield Shield and that became my firm focus. It was always an ironclad dream of mine to play for NSW since I was a kid, so I was never going to give that up.

"I have never ruled that [Ireland] out - the two winters I spent in Ireland were the best thing that ever happened to me in terms of my cricket development and I owe a lot to my club in Ireland and for Ireland giving me an opportunity as well. Potentially down the track if the stars line-up, so to speak, potentially but I'm really focused right now on playing for the Stars and the Blues and trying to win trophies for both."

The choice to battle his way through the tough school of New South Wales cricket has made for plenty of frustrating times for Larkin, who was previously contracted to the Sydney Sixers before gaining a chance with the Melbourne Stars as an injury replacement in 2017. "Our population's great, our pathways are unbelievably well run and Sydney and country New South Wales keep producing world class players," he said. "So I felt like I had to cut my teeth there against some incredible competition, and if you can hang in and get through that you come out a better cricketer for it.

"The Sixers have a really good roster, and my skillset was probably covered up there. An opportunity [with the Stars] popped up last year through injury, and they liked what I did and luckily brought me back again this season. That's just the sliding doors moments with cricket, sometimes those things work out in your favour and you make the best of the situation.

"I've always considered I've got a bit more game than maybe other people think, it's just getting the opportunity to show it and when you do get the opportunity to show it, actually showing it. I don't think I'm just a red-ball player, but as a professional athlete you have to go out there and prove it every time."

His major improvements as a cricketer and a person began to be made after he accepted the task of captaining Sydney University in Sydney first grade, a post for which he twice won captain of the year in 2017 and 2018 before he gave it up as New South Wales came calling more often.

"It is one of the best things I've ever done for my development as a person and as a cricketer, and being able to see how players are feeling and know when you need to put an arm around them or maybe a kick up the arse," Larkin said. "So my first year was a really steep learning curve and we came 13th, then we won it and then came second, and those years I felt like they matured me as a man a lot, and I learned how to get the best out of other people."

Out of that personal growth came cricketing progress, as he was imbued with the self-confidence that all top level athletes require with the help of three choice mentors: Greg Mail, Ed Cowan and Beau Casson. "I've had moments when I haven't believed I could've gone out and done that but I've had some really great coaches and mentors who have assisted me with that and made me realise what I'm capable of," he said. "There's some people behind the scenes who've helped me a lot with that stuff."

"Greg Mail who I've played a lot of club cricket with was fantastic for me and instrumental in my development as a player coming through grade. Ed Cowan, similar, a really close friend of mine and someone who's always honest with me about my game. And then Beau Casson…I've kept a really close relationship with Beau over the years and he's probably the guy who really made me believe in myself to be able to come out and put performances like that on the board."

The relationship with Casson has evolved through several distinct phases, as they were together at Sydney Uni, then Casson worked as the New South Wales assistant coach last season, and now this year they have worked more individually in the manner of a golf swing coach or tennis mentor once the older man chose to step away from the formal role.

"It's beyond just the skillset, he knew me as a person, knew what made me tick, and knew how to get the best out of me," he said. "It's nice when you feel like you've got someone in your corner who's willing to be maybe more like a golf coach is for an individual golfer or a tennis coach is for that tennis player, where you ask them to be honest and they're honest in the good times and the bad times and there was a level of improvement that I got through that relationship that I may not have got if I hadn't stumbled across it."

The next phase for Larkin will be to return to the Sheffield Shield in the hope of churning out more quality runs. Beyond that, the future looks decidedly green, whether for the Stars in Melbourne or for Ireland further afield.