Dedicated to Phil Learoyd, retired hurt. RIP.

Our last match of the 2015/2016 season was shrouded in great sadness as we mourned the passing of one of our team mates. News broke the previous Tuesday that Phil Learoyd had passed away, giving up his wicket after a brave battle against pancreatic cancer. Accomplished with both bat and ball, Phil was always very pleasant company who brought great humour to every game he played in. A committed regular among the small cabal that attend nets practice, even amid his struggle with cancer, he will be greatly missed by the whole club. We all offer our deepest condolences to his wife, Helen, and two children, Ed and Ruby.

Donning black arm bands, we marked his passing with a minute's silence before the game, prefaced by some moving words from his close friend Keith Saunders. Aside from bird song and cars crossing the distant Anzac bridge, the silence in his honour was complete and poignant.

So more than ever, Mad Dogs felt a duty to perform at their best as they took the field against The Northern Force. No small feat given three of our best batsmen always defect to the Force - Ed Watson, Jeremy Boyse and Captain Tim Carroll - who are not even their best bats, not by a long chalk!

But Phil would have been proud of our initial efforts. Keith took three blinding catches keeping wicket off blistering opening overs and together with a middle stump bowling we punished their opening batsmen. Some solid catching from Marcus Timpson and Sean Garvey and a couple of great run outs also were the fruits of committed and tight fielding. Nevertheless our opponents' class still shone through and they accumulated an imposing total that passed the 150 mark - helped by three stonking sixes off our last few overs. We faced an uphill battle to do Phil's memory justice.

In reply we found runs were hard to come by. The outfield was slow and despite a downhill gradient in places the ball travelled slowly, boundaries were hard won. On a hot day, the ball was swinging wildly and the wicket was dry and hard. The bowling we faced was that deadly combination of fast and accurate. Faced with a required run rate of more than 7 per over, we could not afford maiden overs but were kept to a few and quickly the uphill climb became mountainous. We ended our first innings more than 50 behind and there was even talk of being forced to follow on!

After the mid-way BBQ, the Mad Dogs once again took the field determined to stop the rot. Despite the oppressive heat, our fielding retained its tightness - for most of the time anyway. In the break, the Force lost their best batsmen with no replacement. Meanwhile we said goodbye to spin bowler Pete MacGregor but replaced him with all-rounder Richard Ansell. We felt the game had begun to turn somewhat in our favour, but the prospect of a thrashing still loomed menacingly on the horizon.

If any one moment were to be dedicated to Phil's memory, it would have to the fielding exploit that left everyone's jaw on their chest. How appropriate that once again it came from Phil's close friend Keith Saunders. As Tim Carroll swung his bat gleefully at my clumsy full toss, my heart sunk, dreading yet another humiliating boundary. But what happened next was quite miraculous. Keith instinctively dived in full flight to his right and caught the ball not far off the ground with only his right hand. He was as dumb-struck as the rest of us! As Mad Dogs from all over the pitch swamped a delighted Keith in congratulations, our opposition in the pavilion checked with each other it had in fact really happened. Easily the highlight of the season, if not all Mad Dog history.

Perhaps that was a turning point. Still facing a mountain to climb, the Mad Dogs second reply was determined, despite some early maidens. For a spell, Richard Ansell and Brandan Parry attacked the Northern Force bowling with inspired aggression. Benefiting from a deficit in their fielders, their partnership developed into something that quite against the run of play soon appeared to be potentially match winning. Their heroic running between the wickets almost set us up to snatch the match, but it was sadly not to be . After their departures, subsequent batsmen could not sustain their progress. But we finished the innings satisfied that we had given a good account of ourselves and had saved the day from a crushing defeat that would have besmirched Phil Learoyd's tribute.

More pictures from the day here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f39tlr8qon390l4/AABmMWPtg6hgfarUoDzOGIWFa?dl=0

Being a side in mourning was a new and regrettable experience for the Mad Dogs, but Phil's passing underlined more than ever the importance of the sense of community the team has built. RIP Phil mate, we put out our bat in your memory.

For those wishing to pay tribute to Phil, in lieu of flowers, he wanted donations to “Let’s Build a School”. Details as follows:

Website : letsbuildaschool.com.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LetsBuildASchool/?ref=bookmarks He was "Sponsor Dad" to Soy Dam aged 14 and had hoped to visit her this year.

Let’s Build a School - Commonwealth Bank of Australia BSB 06 2000 Account 1536 2836 Reference your donation “In Memory of Phil”