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‘I’ve never heard him so excited’: Murphy family’s pride at Todd’s historic achievement
Todd Murphy has drawn the pride of Moama following his call-up to the Australian Test squad on Wednesday, but none will be prouder than the Murphy family, who paid tribute to the “determined” baggy green hopeful.
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Todd’s father Jamie, brother Joel and mother Paula received the call on Tuesday morning from the 22-year-old confirming the news.
“He rang me that morning to say he had some good news; I’ve never heard him so excited actually,” Jamie said.
“Todd’s not overly excitable but he was very happy.
“It sunk in when someone said there’s only 18 blokes in Australia who have been picked for that tour, you look at the AFL and there’s roughly 800 players on lists.
“It makes you realise, it’s a big deal.”
For Paula it was a “proud mum moment,” admitting it was surreal to hear that her son would have the opportunity to represent Australia.
“It was a bit surreal getting a phone call like that,” she said.
“You could tell Todd was really excited about the opportunity. He’s a very determined young man, he always has been since he was a little boy.”
Todd’s exploits on the pitch are beginning to grab the attention of the Australian cricketing public, but behind the talented off-spin bowler is an unflappable personality with a will to take on a challenge.
“Todd just has a crack, he’s never been frightened of failure or someone getting one over him — he uses it as motivation for next time,” Jamie said.
“He’s never been one to get the sulks and say, ”oh he’s better than me“, never rang up and been down in the dumps, he’s always pretty positive.
“Joel was the same when he was playing with St Kilda, we put in a lot of miles and a lot of hours after school getting to the MCG.”
From an early age, Todd and Joel shared their father’s passion and technical acuity for the game of cricket.
This resulted in long hours on the road to Melbourne as members of various pathway and representative squads.
Jamie, a former premier cricket player for St Kilda and local CCA/GMC legend, said the drives had been worth it.
“It toughens up the country kids and stands them in good stead, they don’t get things handed to them,” Jamie said.
“Everyone sort of said, “gee you’re doing a lot of driving”, and I just said I got to spend three hours each way with my boys in the car.”
• CRICKET: Todd Murphy makes Australia’s squad for Test tour
For Paula, she wouldn’t see the trio until late at night.
“Todd and Joel have spent a lot of time in the car travelling,” Paula said.
“Jamie would pick one up and it would be a long drive to Melbourne to beat the traffic, have a training session and it might finish up at 10pm.
“It wasn’t unusual for Jamie and one of the boys to get back at 1.30am, then you have to get up and go to school or work.
“Both the boys did that for a long time to improve their cricket. They did what they needed to do when you live in the country, you just have to make those choices and sacrifices.”
Growing up as a renowned batsman and handy medium-pacer, Todd’s breakthrough came at the ICC under-19 World Cup in 2020 according to Jamie.
“He took up off-spin pretty late, it was about 16 when he changed over,” he said.
“I always thought he bowled medium pace pretty well, he always had a really good mentality and was never frightened of being hit for six. That held him in good stead for when he took up spin.
“It probably wasn’t until he went to the Australian under-19 tournament in South Africa, that was the first time I saw him step up to that next level and handle it.
“That was certainly when I thought he might have something here.”
Joel, a talented cricketer himself for the Sandhurst Cricket Club in the Bendigo District Cricket Association, competed in some fierce battles against Todd in the family’s backyard cricket net.
Three years Todd’s elder, Joel’s seniority helped him get the better of his opposition on many occasions, but the proud older brother admits the days of his superiority look at an end.
“We played a bit of juniors together, I would always play a few years up and he’d always tag along and try to get a game,” Joel said.
“It was exciting to hear (about Todd’s addition to the squad), I’ve been following on Facebook and seen his name keep getting mentioned for possibly going.”
Cricket’s influence on Todd stretched off the pitch as well, with his parents admitting he was something of a larrikin in his primary school days.
“He was always hard to handle, you just knew he had a bit of fire in his belly,” Jamie said.
“He certainly wasn’t mild, meek and just going to do what he was told.
“He liked to try different things and if you said we’ll do something this way he’d think, ‘well I can do it a better way than that’.
“About Year 6 he turned the corner a bit, and cricket was a big part of that. The pathway mentors were big on getting school right as well as cricket.
“He’s turned into a really good young man. I’d love to talk to some of his primary school teachers, they’d say ‘you’re kidding’.
The Murphys are hopeful of a debut for Todd at some point in the four-Test series, but regardless know that the experience will be key in shaping his career going forward.