| Steve Nikitaras | |
| Country: | Greece |
| Fullname: | Steven Nikitaras Stavros Nikitaras (Greek) |
| Birth Date: | 31 August 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia |
| International: | true |
| Internationalspan: | 1990–2011 |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Bowling: | Left-arm fast-medium |
| Role: | Bowler |
| Family: | Blake Nikitaras (son) |
| Club1: | New South Wales |
| Year1: | 1996–1997 |
| Club2: | Western Australia |
| Year2: | 1999–2000 |
| Columns: | 2 |
| Column1: | FC |
| Matches1: | 4 |
| Runs1: | 24 |
| Bat Avg1: | 6.00 |
| 100S/50S1: | 0/0 |
| Top Score1: | 12 |
| Deliveries1: | 577 |
| Wickets1: | 7 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 49.71 |
| Fivefor1: | 0 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 3/76 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 2/- |
| Column2: | LA |
| Matches2: | 14 |
| Runs2: | 6 |
| Bat Avg2: | 3.00 |
| 100S/50S2: | 0/0 |
| Top Score2: | 6 |
| Deliveries2: | 650 |
| Wickets2: | 7 |
| Bowl Avg2: | 69.14 |
| Fivefor2: | 0 |
| Tenfor2: | n/a |
| Best Bowling2: | 3/30 |
| Catches/Stumpings2: | 4/- |
| Date: | 9 January |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/4/4366/4366.html CricketArchive |
Steven "Steve" Nikitaras (Greek: Stavros Nikitaras; born 31 August 1970) is a former professional cricketer who played at Australian domestic level for both New South Wales and Western Australia. A left-arm pace bowler, he went on to play for the Greek national side after the end of his professional career.
Nikitaras was born in Port Kembla, a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, to Greek emigrant parents. He did not take up playing cricket until he was 19.[1] Batting right-handed and bowling left-arm fast-medium, Nikitaras was shortly afterwards selected for a Wollongong representative team, and within a year had progressed to the Sydney grade cricket competition. From the 1993–94 season onwards, he began to be regularly selected for New South Wales second XI matches.[2] Nikitaras made his debut for the senior team in a Mercantile Mutual Cup match against Western Australia during the 1996–97 season.[3] In the match, played in October 1996 at North Sydney Oval, he failed to take a wicket,[4] but was selected in another one-day match five days later, against Queensland, and again went wicketless.[5] Nikitaras' inaugural Sheffield Shield match came against Queensland the following month.[6] In the match, played at Bankstown Oval, Sydney, he took 3/76 in Queensland's first innings opening the bowling alongside Phil Alley.[7]
Although he appeared in several more matches during the 1996–97 season, including against a touring England "A" team,[3] Nikitaras did not play at all at state level during the 1997–98 season, and transferred to Western Australia the following season.[1] Playing for Perth in the local grade cricket competition, he made his debut for Western Australia towards the end of the 1998–99 season, in a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland at the WACA Ground.[6] Bowling first change behind Jo Angel and Matthew Nicholson, he did not take a wicket, and failed to play another match at state level during the season.[8] However, the following season was Nikitaras' most successful at state level. He gained regular selection in Mercantile Mutual Cup matches, playing seven out of eight matches in the tournament,[9] and taking seven wickets, third in Western Australia's bowling aggregates behind Angel and Darren Wates.[10] Nikitaras was particularly valued for his low economy rate, conceding just 4.00 runs per over to finish with Western Australia's best rate and the equal-fifth-best rate in the competition (for bowlers with over five wickets).[11] His best bowling figures, 3/30 from ten overs, came against the Canberra Comets in early January 2000.[12]
Despite his good form during the 1999–2000 season, which had helped him secure a contract from the Western Australian Cricket Association, Nikitaras played only four matches for Western Australia the following season, including a match against the West Indies on their 2000–01 tour of Australia.[3] [6] Having failed to gain a contract for the 2001–02 season,[13] Nikitaras signed with the Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2002 English cricket season, on a one-year contract.[14] As a Greek citizen, he was not counted as an overseas player, under the terms of the Bosman ruling.[15] [16] Struggling with injury, he played only two matches during the season, both in the Second XI Championship.[17] Having first played for the side in 1990, against Guernsey, Nikitaras represented the Greek national cricket team at several tournaments after the conclusion of his first-class playing career.[18] In June 2011, he captained Greece at the 2011 European T20 Championship Division Two tournament, with the side finishing sixth overall after losing to Spain in the fifth-place playoff.[19]
His son Blake Nikitaras has also played first-class cricket for New South Wales cricket team.[20]