'Wonderful little community': Club legend humbled by mighty milestone

It's a country cricket resume few can rival and one which he is entitled to feel satisfied with from an individual perspective.

But it's the mark of the man that despite all his team and individual accolades he remains so dedicated to his club and more importantly humble and grateful.

To Murphy, a former club treasurer now in his second stint as club president, it's all about making his club a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment and helping others in any way possible.

That's what ultimately satisfies him.

But the division one star - a father of three - is worthy of celebration and will reach a mighty milestone in his career on Saturday when he steps onto the park for his 350th senior appearance for the Bulls in a top-two clash against Cobden in South West Cricket.

"It's a great achievement, it's not something you set out to achieve but it feels like I've got there pretty easy with the enjoyment I get from playing cricket with Pomborneit and in our competition," he told The Standard.

"There's so many great people at our club and so many great families, it's a wonderful little community so reaching it (350 games) is quite an easy task.

"Premierships are obviously high on the list of memories, getting to play with my brother (Steven) and family has been great but building lifelong friendships are what matters with blokes.

"Hopefully I can continue that one day with my three kids (Miller, Pippa and Angus). They are just starting to come through now at the junior ranks at the club so that's something to look forward to in years to come.

"I'll have to continue on for a few more years to get in games with all those kids. I can't wait to get in games with them down the track."

Murphy arrived at the club in 1993-94 as a teenager before making his senior debut in 1996-97 and while he doesn't remember who his senior debut came against, or where it was played, it's been a journey steeped in individual and team success.

It's likely he will tick past 10,000 runs at the end of his career - he sits at 8635 - he has 343 catches and 121 stumpings and has been a key member in five division one flags, four Twenty20 premierships and two junior premierships.

Add years of country week matches for South West Cricket and it makes for one hell of a career.

"I have absolutely no memories of my first game of senior cricket, couldn't tell you anything about it, " he said with a laugh.

"I probably took it for granted back in the day and was overwhelmed with it all the time to be honest. I do focus more on the team side of things more than individually, that's where my memories come from.

"I'm not one for counting my runs or catches, that kind of thing but always happy to make runs and take catches though.

"I've been lucky to have played with amazing cricketers for Pomborneit and against heaps in South West Cricket. There's been some great cricketers along the way and I've been lucky in a way to have achieved so much team success because it's what you play for."

He believes the current state of the club is as strong as it's ever been with a swag of junior, girls and boys, senior men's and senior women's teams and was determined to steer the club forward into the future.

"Our junior programs are such a huge focus for our club. Thriving juniors means you have a thriving club as there will be more families around," he said.

"That flow goes into your senior grades. It is a main focus for us to maintain that standard over the past 10 years and keep building on our junior programs. It's the future of our club.

"We're a bit privileged that we can be involved in both (South West and Colac) associations, it provides our members and players different opportunities.

"The club's in a great position I believe, probably the strongest in its history. We purchased the second oval recently and we'll hopefully get that up and running in the next few years because we're still growing which is exciting."