Fergus O'Neill has capped a meteoric rise from 'Young Cricketer' to Australian domestic cricket's best performer, crowned the Sheffield Shield player of the season for 2024-25.
The Victorian seamer and loveable larrikin has been rewarded for another outstanding summer, with his 38 wickets at 21.07 putting him atop of the Shield wickets tally this season alongside Western Australia off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli.
It comes just over 12 months after he was awarded the prestigious Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award in a summer where he finished with 40 Shield wickets at 17.25.
Only South Australian Nathan McAndrew (111) has taken more wickets in the Sheffield Shield than O'Neill's 105 since his debut in October 2022, with the 24-year-old firmly entrenching himself as one of the competition's most feared bowlers.
The right-armer polled 17 votes - all bar one before the Big Bash break - to win the award by two from Tasmanian opener Jake Weatherald, who was the Shield's leading run-scorer this season with 906 at 50.33.
Weatherald was followed closely by Hilton Cartwright in both the runs (861 at 57.40) and votes tallies, with the West Australian finishing equal third alongside NSW allrounder Jack Edwards and Victorian opener Campbell Kellaway on 14 votes.
O'Neill earned maximum votes (with each on-field umpire awarding 3-2-1 votes for each match) in Victoria's wins over NSW at the MCG in October and WA a month later at Junction Oval.
In the first of those, O'Neill's four wickets in the first innings were all Test-capped players, dismissing Steve Smith, Moises Henriques (who he also dismissed in the second innings), Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon to help roll NSW for 136 and set up a 141-run victory.
He then claimed the six votes against WA by dismantling their highly-credentialled top order with three wickets in each innings help the Vics to an eight-wicket win over the three-time reigning champions.
Between those two matches, O'Neill represented Australia A for the first time, adding Indian internationals Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan to an impressive and rapidly expanding list of scalps in his second-innings 4-55.
And retiring Victorian legend Peter Siddle sees no reason why his new ball partner can't replicate his stunning success at the next level if given an opportunity.
"His numbers speak for themselves, he just continues to take wickets," Siddle told cricket.com.au today.
"He knows he's got different areas to work on in different conditions and different wickets but he's able to consistently go out there and perform and tear teams apart.
"We speak about pace a lot, but we also speak a lot about consistency and building pressure and he's probably the best at that in Shield cricket.
"He might not have the pace, but he's showed with the performances he's put up and how consistent he's been over the last couple of years that he can be a very handy asset in all conditions.
"He can also bat and he's a gun fielder, so it's exciting for him.
"He's had a few opportunities in and around the 'A' set up so hopefully he can keep rising the way he is and finding new ways to improve, and there's definitely opportunities for him going forward."
O'Neill also picked up four votes for his 5-51 and 4-22 in Victoria's narrow 23-run loss to Shield finalists Queensland in December, while he also earned a vote for his 5-51, 2-49 and 36 runs in their round nine loss to the Bulls' final opponents, South Australia.
After Victoria missed qualifying for the Shield final by a mere 0.27 points, O'Neill will now seek to boost his resume next month during a maiden county stint with Nottinghamshire for the first four games of the English season.
"I just told him to do what he does at the MCG," Siddle said.
"His success there has been amazing over his career and the conditions at times are very similar (in the UK).
"The guys that are going to be successful there are the ones that can consistently hit the right line and length, build pressure and keep the batters honest … and I think 'Ferg' is going to love bowling with that Dukes ball."
– Written by Cricket.com.au's Jack Paynter.
