The 28-year-old medium pacer will get his opportunity in Auckland tomorrow when the Volts play the Aces in the State Shield final at Eden Park.
The final is a replay of last year's game, but McSkimming was robbed of the opportunity to play in that match because of a shoulder injury.
Otago lost a crucial toss and was well beaten by five wickets at the University Oval. A year later, coach Mike Hesson is hoping his players will be less anxious before the big match.
While the message has registered, it has not quite sunk in for McSkimming.
‘‘I missed last year's final so I'm really excited,'' he said.
‘‘It is pretty disappointing to play for seven or eight years and Otago finally gets a chance to play in the final and you're not involved.
‘‘It is like a dream come true to play in the final.''
McSkimming was on the cusp of national selection at the beginning of last summer. National selector Sir Richard Hadlee phoned and placed him on stand-by for the Champions Trophy after Shane Bond sustained an injury early in the tournament.
But Bond recovered and the final call never came. Then some bad luck ruined McSkimming's season.
While playing in a twenty/20 fixture against Northern Districts in Invercargill, he was struck flush on the jaw while fielding off his own bowling. The accident left him needing oral surgery.
No sooner had he recovered from that setback, he injured his shoulder and was confined to the sidelines again.
Being that close to realising a dream and having it taken away was gut-wrenching, but he has a chance to remove one of the stones from his shoe tomorrow.
‘‘This is something you are going to remember for the rest of your life and, if you win, you won't just be a remembered as a good Otago team.
‘‘You'll be a remembered as an Otago team which went down in history.''
McSkimming has taken 13 wickets at 29.38 and is going for just a shade over five runs an over. While it is a reasonable return, the bowler feels he is operating at about 80%.
‘‘I still feel I'm putting together four good balls an over rather than five, or even six. I suppose you've got to be hard on yourself. It just seems this season I've been going for 10 or 12 runs more than I'm used to.''
Power plays have not helped bowling economy rates, with sides looking to use the fielding restrictions and get after the bowlers early.
McSkimming also bowls at the death, when a good day can morph into something closer to a nightmare in the space of a couple of overs.
With Brendon McCullum prowling the covers, Nathan McCullum patrolling point and the acrobatic Neil Broom, McSkimming and Otago are well served with arguably the best fielding unit in the competition.
The batting line-up presents numerous headaches for Auckland's attack.
Brendon McCullum is in irrepressible form at the top of the order and is fresh from an undefeated 108.
Alex Gidman has improved with the bat as the summer has gone on and Neil Broom remains a danger with his ability to clear the boundary.
Aaron Redmond has been the most consistent, chalking up two centuries, and captain Craig Cumming and Greg Todd are both capable of match-winning innings.
The tail offers little reprieve, with McSkimming and Bradley Scott both capable of finding the boundary.
Off-spinning all-rounder Nathan McCullum and Scott have strangled many an opposition with tight bowling, and Otago has generally looked to bat first and defend.
But with Brendon McCullum in the side, Otago changed its tactics for the semifinal against Canterbury and opted to chase.
Auckland has been the form team in the competition, winning eight of its 10 round-robin matches, and will go into the final as favourite.
But one of its losses came against Otago back in round three and, perhaps, the Volts have more momentum, having won two sudden-death matches.
The loss of Andre Adams, Daryl Tuffey and Lou Vincent has been offset by the return of Black Caps spearheads Chris Martin and Kyle Mills and allrounder Scott Styris.
Opener Martin Guptill has been in electric form with the blade and Rob Nicol has burgled more than his share of wickets.
