Most of Australia's professional cricketers have negligible public profile among all but cricket aficionados. The typical exceptions are those who play, or have played, for Australia – and those who make the news because of notoriety.
Tom Triffitt, the vice-captain to Mitch Marsh in the victorious under-19 World Cup campaign in 2010, was a chance to be known for the former – but slipped into the latter after a drunken escapade in January after which he was arrested and charged by police, and then sacked by Western Australia.
While it took the misfortune of another player, the injured Peter Handscomb, to give the 24-year-old wicketkeeper the opportunity to return to domestic cricket ranks, next up on Saturday night for Melbourne Stars against his home team Hobart at the MCG, he is driven to use this unexpected Big Bash League stint to rebuild not just his career but his reputation.
"That [media criticism] is the thing that I struggled with, because I don't think I'm a bad person, I don't think I'm a dickhead. I know I mucked up, but that doesn't necessarily make me a bad person," he said.
The key reason the Stars sought to sign Triffitt as an injury-replacement player, despite his January indiscretion and not having played at the top domestic level for almost two years, was the impression he left on their hierarchy after a stint three years earlier when filling in as Tasmania's gloveman for the injured Tim Paine. He made 40 and 70 in the Sheffield Shield at the MCG against Victoria and then 72 not out in the one-day match that followed.
With Paine returning from injury the following season, the then 21-year-old accepted a two-year deal to move to Western Australia.
Triffitt was swayed by the on-field potential of such a move, and the pay rise it brought, but now admits he missed the oversight of friends and family. That issue was exacerbated when he quickly fell out of favour once Justin Langer was appointed as coach, with the younger Sam Whiteman overtaking him in shield, one-day and eventually Twenty20.
It was for that reason he was in Brisbane in January, as part of a second-tier Futures League match, that he got in trouble with the police. While the effects on his record were minimal – stealing charges were dropped after he paid for damage he caused – it triggered the cancellation of his contract five months early, an ignominious end to the first stage of his career, and possibly his entire career if he kept on that path.
"I didn't handle my dropping too well," he said. "I thought I was perhaps a bit unfairly treated, but, looking back now, I don't think that's the case. I was a long way from home. I've got a really close group of mates in Tassie and to go away from home and not have those kind of things to pull you in line and comfortable [was a problem]. I was young and a bit naive to think that I had everything covered.
"It was a good life lesson. A lot of people say, 'Do you wish it didn't happen?', but I've learned some really good lessons from it. I probably wouldn't change anything, as silly as that sounds."
Triffitt's only regret about his sacking, and the public attention he brought on himself, was the resulting impact on his family.
"I went over how going out for a drink [and getting sacked because of a drunken error] affected me and affected my family. I'm really close to my nan and she was really upset with some of the things she read, and my family too ... it was really tough for them."
On his return to Hobart early this year, Triffitt realised he had to make "some pretty dramatic changes to my life".
The first was getting a job. A contact at the football club he joined, Hutchins School Old Boys, was a realtor who was willing to give him a chance. After passing his entrance exam, he joined the residential division of Roberts Real Estate.
Socially, he also reminds himself of the "consequences of stuffing up".
"I still have a drink but I think I've really curbed it. I don't go out all the time, and I've whittled down my friendship group to people that I trust and I know will be there for me if I'm struggling. I've had some pretty dark times in the past 12 months and without my family and my friends I don't know where I'd be," he said.
One of the high points of this year was winning a premiership with Hutchins Old Boys, because it reminded him of the enjoyment sport could bring him, unlike his period of sulking after being dropped by WA. It also got him fit, which was another aspect which suffered during his time out of the team in Perth.
One of the best examples for him was the progression of his close friend Mitch Marsh, whose mid-year feats for Australia in a one-day tournament in Zimbabwe prompted his Test call-up and selection in not just the United Arab Emirates against Pakistan, while Shane Watson was injured, but also the home series against India, even after Watson was back.
"I was just really happy for Mitch because he's still one of my best friends ... and I was happy for him because he'd had a lot of backward steps over past two years as well with his off-field stuff," he said. "I was really pleased to see him doing well, and it motivated me to make some changes."
Triffitt knew it was a long way back for him in cricket. He feared he had burned his bridges in Hobart by quitting two-and-a-half-years ago, but was heartened that coach Dan Marsh and captain George Bailey, both of whom he deeply respects, had not black-banned him.
His club cricket runs – he leads the run tally in Hobart – were enough to get him an unexpected call-up the Tigers' second XI team, for whom he has also scored a half-century.
It was not until the past fortnight that Triffitt realised his ambitions to return to a higher level of cricket may be achieved earlier than he had hoped. He mulled over an offer to join a BBL team as a specialist batsman but eventually accepted a shorter, less lucrative deal with the Stars, partly because he was guaranteed to play and to keep, and because he would be playing alongside close friends Jackson Bird and James Faulkner.
The Stars' faith in him was also a big confidence boost, as were the congratulatory messages he received after the deal was revealed.
"That was the thing I really struggled with [since the sacking, reminding myself], I'm not a shit bloke. That's where 'Whitey' [Cameron White, Stars captain] and 'Shippy' [Greg Shipperd, Stars coach] have been really good, and especially guys like George Bailey and Tim Paine. They've just reinforced that, 'You made a mistake but you're not a bad person', we still love you. Those messages I got were really, really heartening."
While Triffitt is yet to achieve his main goal of returning to the shield – the Tigers have two other glovemen, Paine and Ben Dunk in their squad – he considers his BBL deal as a sign that "there's some good times ahead, as long as I can keep my head screwed on".
"It's been a pretty amazing turnaround but now's probably when I need to reassess and make sure I don't get ahead of myself again because it can easily slip away," he said. "One hundred per cent [this is an opportunity to impress, in the BBL]. But I'm not feeling any pressure. I'm just keen to get out there because I'm loving my cricket again. It's also a good chance to show people that, off-field, I've made some changes and that I'm serious about playing cricket again."
