Where Are They Now: Nick King on making runs for Prahran and studying medicine

Now, just weeks out from his scheduled departure date, he is helping paint his family home, unsure if and when he will get the chance to fly overseas.

King, 22, returned to Warrnambool last month for an extended break after completing four years of his five-year degree at Monash University.

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He had planned to spend the first half of 2020 travelling and then wanted to knuckle down for pre-season training with Victorian Premier Cricket club Prahran, determined to cement a spot in its First XI side next summer.

But the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned the world upside down and brought international travel to a halt, means the former Dennington batsman is now making the most of his time at home.

"I didn't take a gap year after school so I just wanted a bit of time," King said.

"We had our big final exams at the end of fourth year so it was a good year to take off because next year is just all placement. I wanted to travel around a bit before I was tied down by a job."

Cricket will now get some extra attention. King arrived at Prahran with an impressive junior resume.

He represented Victoria at under 17 level and, after a change to the national championships format, Vic Country as a bottom-age under 19 prospect.

The opening batsman missed the state side in his top-age year but was given an opportunity to play for Northern Territory at the Cricket Australia titles.

King started in Prahran's Third XI and has played a mixture of First XI and Second XI since.

He's made four centuries for the club including 166 for the Second XI in the final round this year which helped him earn a spot in the top team the following week.

"We had a pretty good year. We had all four teams in finals and our Second XI finished on top but then it was all cancelled (because of coronavirus)," King said.

"We played one round of finals. I played the first final in the ones and we lost to St Kilda. I would've been able to play in the twos the following week but it was called off.

"We were crowned premiers but obviously we didn't win it the way we wanted to."

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King's appearances across the 2019-20 season were limited as study and placement took priority.

"Because I had my big exams on, I took the first bit of the year off so I came back just before Christmas," he said.

"I played a couple of games in the threes and was in the twos for the rest of the year and played just the one game, the final, in the ones."

King knows his career will come first but he wants "to play as much as I can" in coming seasons.

"I haven't played in the ones as much as I would've liked," he said. "I have been pretty consistent in the twos and have made a few scores in the ones but haven't really been able to cement my spot in the ones. That is what I am hoping to do with a full pre-season...and pick up where I left off."

King, who was living in St Kilda, was inspired to join the medical world by his father Selby, a GP in Warrnambool.

The Monash University student is still deciding what field he'd like to specialise in after placements at The Alfred and Monash Health among others.

Placement will be the focus of his final year too.

"We've been doing placement for the last two years and then we do another year of placement," King said.

"We'll have a lot of supervision but we'll go into working straight away.

"At the start you work in a hospital for a couple of years and then you choose what you want to do."

General practice and surgery have piqued King's interest.

"They rotate you around so you get to see a few different hospitals," he said.

"They try and give you a taste of everything.

"I think if you want to get into surgery, you have to start off in Melbourne for the first couple of years because all the big hospitals which do training are there.

"Then later on you can move out to the country. That's if I take that (surgical) route but if I end up doing general practice, I am certainly interested in being a rural GP in Warrnambool or Geelong."

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