Strauch, who turns 40 this year, finishes his stint in charge of the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association club after leading it to the 2022/23 division one flag, as well as victory in the Sungold T20 final. He cited a desire to spend more time with his partner and her two children but will remain a figure at the club.

"All I wanted was at the end of every season for the club to be in a better position than it was when it started," he said. "I can't leave it in a better spot than it is now. The women's are flying, we had all the teams in the finals, won the Sungold (T20 final), won the flag for the first time in 20-odd years. It's a good time to hand it over.... the club is in a really good spot."

Strauch looked back on the many ups-and-down in charge, including at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout a lengthy redevelopment of their home-base Reid Oval.

"It was baby steps at the time. The first year was pretty hard, we didn't have a lot of players but we built it up and did it the right way," he said. "We were at Jones (Oval), training in two separate groups because of COVID, then at the Mack (Oval)."

While just missing finals early in his tenure stung, Strauch entered last season confident it would be the year it all came together and credited batting depth, an unassuming bowling attack and the home-grown nature of many players to its success.

"There was a few hurdles and also people questioning themselves and whether we were doing it the right way, but if you have faith in everyone else, that favour never wavers," he said.

"It's having that faith and confidence in yourself and your ability, it makes the game easy and it makes you want to be there and enjoy it."

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