FAMILY and Brierly-Christ Church go hand-in-hand for Mark Murphy.
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Murphy, a two-time Warrnambool cricketer of the year, will join father Michael and brother Nathan in the Bulls' illustrious 150-game club on Saturday.
Brierly-Christ Church will forever be Murphy's cricket home. He spent three seasons coaching East Warrnambool but the lure of helping his junior club to its maiden premiership was too strong to resist.
"My grandfather played here and obviously my nanna (Beryl) still gets to as many games as she can," Murphy said.
My dad played close to 400 games here and Nathan would be close to 250. There's a lot of history here.
- Mark Murphy
"My dad played close to 400 games here and Nathan would be close to 250. There's a lot of history here.
"I didn't realise it was coming up until Nathan brought it up. It's pretty special to play that many at a club particularly with three seasons away."
Murphy is yet to taste the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association's ultimate team success.
He steered Brierly-Christ Church to a limited overs premiership last season but now wants to help it add a two-day flag to its coffers.
"Anyone who knows me knows that I'd do anything just to play a game of cricket," Murphy said.
"We all want the highest team success and to get the best out of ourselves. The individual accolades are nice but you play with your best mates and with your brother and that drives me.
"You push yourself a little bit more for the people around the club - I'd love to win one for them."
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The 27-year-old praised the influence of new skipper Matt Love and first-year coach Jason Mungean. He said the duo's input had eased pressure.
"We have more people to lean off and guide you through the stages of a game," Murphy said.
"There's a lot of different situations you'll come up against in a game of cricket and the experienced heads and different opinions help to make decisions under pressure.
"They're both very approachable as well and you can bounce ideas off them."
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