Tigers No.3 Charlie Wakim made the most of some good fortune at the start of last season
Unplayable Pod: 'Sliding doors moment' sends Wakim on his way
As he reflects on a career-best summer, Charlie Wakim knows his season almost played out very differently.
After seven summers in and out of the Tigers' Shield side, Wakim believed he was on the outer ahead of the first match of the 2023-24 Sheffield Shield.
But a match-eve head knock to Tim Ward opened the door for the experienced right hander.
“I was quite fortunate to get a game,” Wakim tells the Unplayable Podcast.
“Unfortunately, Tim Ward our opening batter got hit and went down, and I was the next batter in."
The late inclusion took his chance. Wakim hit 110 against South Australia, his first Shield century in four and a half years.
He went on to play every match of the Shield campaign, for the first time in his career, as the Tigers qualified for their first final in seven years.
His red-ball form was so good that it saw him finish in the Sheffield Shield’s top-five run-scorers for the first time, with 679 runs.
“It was a sliding doors moment,” Wakim recalls.
“He (Ward) came straight back in, the second or third game.
“But I was able to lock down that number three spot.
“It was just a reward, I felt like, for a lot of toiling away just to get that one opportunity.”
Unplayable Podcast state previews
- WA preview with Lance Morris
Now that he’s got his spot, good luck getting rid of him.
Despite being a self-confessed “quiet” cricketer, Wakim has emerged as an important member of the Tigers’ leadership group, alongside Jordan Silk, Beau Webster and Caleb Jewell.
And he’s just signed new contracts with both the state side and the Hobart Hurricanes, securing his immediate future.
So although he turned 33 in July, this late bloomer feels like his career is just getting going.
Chatting to the Unplayable Podcast from Nathan Ellis’ house, Wakim believes the experience of facing Western Australia at the WACA ground in last year’s Shield decider holds the young Tasmanian outfit in good stead for the new season.
“It was a really exciting season for us,” Wakim said.
“We probably weren't expected to do as well as we did and then we got a bit of momentum, probably off the back of big Beauy Webster having one of the all-time seasons, but people just seemed to stand up exactly when we needed them.”
“Guys like Gabe Bell had an unreal season. Brad Hope made a big impact for us as well.
“So we're all the better for those guys getting some really good match-winning performances under their belt, and getting confidence to go and do it again.”