A much better shot, huge! The perspective, like crycocyon said, looks like you're squaring off with the critter.
You mentioned you could have made the face sharper. However, I think what it needed was a little post work so it didn't have that "haze" over it. The tripod of course made a huge improvement as well.
A quick 5 minute touch-up and your crickets face looks sharper already.
Split screen
Whole image
Thanks again for sharing. I love this shot of a killer cricket!