Born: Warrnambool on September 21, 1984.

Wife: Hayley.

Children: Jagger and Bowie.

Parents: Peter and Julie.

Siblings: Simon, Daniel, Matthew and Sophie.

Education: St Patrick's Primary School Koroit before going to Emmanuel College Warrnambool.

Sporting Highlights: Playing in a football premiership with Dartmoor in 2014 and playing in a cricket premiership with Merrivale in 2012-13. I also rate playing footy with my siblings at Koroit and Old Collegians very highly.

Justin, you took over as the playing coach of the Merrivale Cricket Club at the start of this season. How are things progressing for the club at this stage of the 2020-21 season?

We're going pretty good. It's a very exciting time for the club because we've got some excellent junior players coming through the ranks. It's great watching the young players develop their skills. The future looks very good for the club because we've got a lot of players on our list.

A few weeks ago we had 12 players unavailable, but we were still able to field three senior sides. That just shows the depth we have at the club.

We've just got to make sure that the young players stick around.

Where's your spot in the batting order now?

I usually bat in the middle of the order.

I used to bat at number 3, but it's all about giving the younger players a chance to improve their skills.

We hoping to make the final four at the end of the season. We've won five of our last six games and the game we lost was our fault.

Woodford looks to be the best team at this stage. There's still a long way to go in the season.

It's going to be interesting if you make the finals who knows what may happen.

Justin, you're no stranger to coaching cricket at Merrivale. Back in 2007-2008 you held the role, and last year you played out at Grassmere. What was the reason you went back to be playing coach this season?

I just love the club. I first started playing for Merrivale in 2004 after playing with Wesley for five seasons.

I played in a couple of losing grand final sides for Merrivale in the mid 2000s after coming across for Wesley.

We made 220 runs in one grand final and about 184 in another game - usually that amount of runs wins grand finals, but Dennington was just too strong for us.

I was young when I coached the club back in 2007-08.

The role was something I always wanted to do.

It was a great experience. I had a few years away from cricket in between time and I played out at Grassmere last season.

My brother-in-law Chris Lenehan was playing with Grassmere, so I thought I would play out there.

We lost the semi-final. I hurt my back and missed a couple of games, which never really helped my own form.

I enjoyed my time out at Grassmere. I had a chat to Merrivale in the off-season and the bug was still there to play at the higher level again, so I took up the role.

It's working out really well at Merrivale, I'm getting a lot of support on and off the field.

How do you rate local cricket to, say, 10 years ago?

It's pretty good. I suppose the big thing I've noticed is there are no really fast bowlers in the competition.

A few years ago there were some very fast bowlers going around, but now clubs have pretty good medium-paced bowlers.

I think that's one of the big differences I've noted.

Away from the cricket field, you've played in a footy premiership with Dartmoor in 2014. Where did your footy career begin?

I started out playing under 13s with Koroit before going through the junior grades.

I had a season in the under 18s and went to play my second season of under 18s in at South Warrnambool with my mates.

We won the flag, defeating Warrnambool in 2002.

My footy career was halted a bit because I had developed osteitis pubis.

I would have been 25 when I saw a doctor in Melbourne about the complaint. He put me on a program to follow, and after a while my health improved.

I went back and played footy at Koroit for a year before I played with Old Collegians. The saddest thing about playing for Old Collegians was I played in four losing grand final sides.

They were in 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

I believe the one in 2011 was the one that got away.

We had a very good side players like Garth Crawford, Jarrod and Jeremy Gleeson and Troy Richardson was a handy player.

My mate Vinny Ryan ended up talking me around to go over to Dartmoor for the 2014 season.

We were undefeated in that season.

It was a very physical brand of footy over in the South-West league.

I walked away from footy at the end of the 2018 season with Old Collegians.

It was disappointing I never played in a premiership side with them after playing in four losing grand final sides.

My body was just physically and mentally tired.

The biggest disappointment for me at Collegians was for the volunteers at the club, who put in countless hours working behind the scenes to have everything right.

All clubs have volunteers they are the backbone.

It's just a shame when you get so close and lose on grand final day for them.

Did you sustain many injuries during your footy career?

The main one occurred when I was playing for Collegians in 2009.

I had my face smashed in as a result of an on-field accident against Russells Creek.

I was knocked out and so was my opponent.

I lost a few teeth and had eight fractures in my face as a result of the incident.

I spent 10 days in hospital and the doctors were thinking of airlifting me to Melbourne at one stage, as I had no movement in my legs.

The doctors found that I had damaged nerves in my neck and that impacted on my legs. After a week of rest, things improved.

Justin Lynch

Born: Warrnambool on September 21, 1984.

Wife: Hayley.

Children: Jagger and Bowie.

Parents: Peter and Julie.

Siblings: Simon, Daniel, Matthew and Sophie.

Education: St Patrick's Primary School Koroit before going to Emmanuel College Warrnambool.

Sporting Highlights: Playing in a football premiership with Dartmoor in 2014 and playing in a cricket premiership with Merrivale in 2012-13. I also rate playing footy with my siblings at Koroit and Old Collegians very highly.