Don't feel too sorry for James Psarakis.

Sure, the 29-year-old's cricket career has not evolved the way he had hoped, stalling on the fringes of state selection. But a decade after he left his hometown of Tamworth to chase his dreams in Sydney, he has much to be grateful for.

With a job at a Surrey Hills recruiting agency, a serious relationship and a meaningful sporting life, the Tamworth High alum understandably sounded upbeat on the other end of the phone.

"I'm now at the age where everything settles down a little bit in life, which is good," he said, after captaining Michael Clarke's former club Western Suburbs to their first top-grade title in half a century. "Everything's falling into place nicely down here with cricket, work and life in general," he added.

Psarakis headed to Syd

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