Michael Archer got a slither of Big Bash League action last season; this summer he is back for the whole pie after signing his first professional cricket contract.
The wily leg-spinner has joined the Melbourne Renegades' main roster for the 2026-27 season for a summer that is unprecedented, with talks of privatisation, name changes and the future of the league being the main topic of conversation in cricket.
However, 29-year-old Archer, whose cricket journey has taken him from regional town Tatura in Victoria's north, to Carlton in premier cricket, to a stint in England and now the BBL, is ecstatic to reach his long-held dream of becoming a professional cricketer.
A teacher by trade, Archer said he was busy at his school in northern Melbourne suburb Thornbury when he was told the news.
"I found out a while before I signed that I'd be getting (a contract)," Archer told Zero Digital Sports.
"I was actually in my classroom where I'm talking to you now (when I found out). I went to leave work and I was trying my hardest just to sneak out because I was a little bit emotional.
"Going past the staff room and there was a few kids and stuff in the office and I was like, 'I can't really walk out now in front of these guys'. So I snuck into one of the staff rooms and there was a lady in there and she saw me, the poor thing, be a little bit emotional, which is very unlike me.
"I don't show much. So I was like, 'Oh, sorry'. Still feel bad about it.
"My poor girlfriend, when I actually signed the contract, it was her birthday. So probably stole the thunder from her a little bit, but she was pumped."
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Archer has spent the past few seasons on the edge of the Renegades' roster, playing in their practice and off-season games.
He was then added to the Renegades' side as a call-up player for their final game of the season against the Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval last summer.
The Gades struggled with the bat, being skittled for 98, meaning Archer only got to bowl two overs in his debut. But the energetic legspinner said the experience was incredible nonetheless.
"It was just amazing, like so cool. I think that was 25,000 or so at Adelaide Oval, which yeah, was so cool," he said.
"I actually don't think I would have played in front of more than like 500 people maybe, and that was a Grand Final for Carlton on the last day, we had a fair few there.
"Then last year in Darwin we played Nepal and they have a pretty big following up in Darwin. So they had a fair few people there, even then like I say 500; it might not have been that many.
"It was a shame the way the game panned out, but I think just taking the positives from that experience, like I didn't feel overawed or anything, playing in front of that crowd."
Without looking too far ahead, Archer hopes this summer can launch his career into more seasons in the BBL, and onwards to leagues abroad and state honours.
The 29-year-old initially played for Greenvale in Victorian Premier Cricket across the 2019-20 season, beginning in third grade.
Archer then made the move to Carlton for the 2023-24 summer and became an integral part of the club's first-grade premiership-winning team.
Looking back on his humble beginnings as a cricketer in regional Victoria, Archer revealed he only turned to spin as he reached senior cricket for Tatura in the Cricket Shepparton competition.
"I've always been pretty bullish on what I can do, but looking back seven years ago, what I was and who I was; I was definitely nowhere near the finished product," he said.
"I didn't start bowling leg spin until I was like 18 or 19.
"It's pretty incredible when you see those (young Renegades teammates) and just their want to train. They'll be hitting balls for well over an hour a session and just the volume that they put into it. People like (Oliver Peake, Harry Dixon and Jake Fraser-McGurk).
"I only just started playing grade cricket at 23 or 24. When I was Peaky's age, 19, I would have been nowhere near it.
"Just the maturity that they have beyond their years is pretty impressive and that work ethic and hunger that they have is so impressive."
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The BBL season starts in an unusual manner this summer with Archer's Renegades playing reigning champions Perth Scorchers in Chennai, India, on December 12.
Having spent plenty of time around the Renegades squad during Northern Territory off-season tournaments and last summer as a reserve player, Archer said there are two staffers at the organisation he is looking forward to learning from.
"It would be awesome to get to know (head coach) Luke Ronchi and have some conversations with him and his experiences. Not many people have played cricket for two different countries (Australia and New Zealand). It'd be cool to pick his brain," he said.
"Clint McKay (high performance manager) is someone that when I've been around, I net bowled to the Stars a couple of seasons ago when he was there and he gave me some really good feedback as well. So it'll be cool to work with him too."
