With those words, Louise Maclure picked up a ball, marched onto the cricket pitch at Schofields Park and bowled her first delivery on Saturday, November 7.

It was not unlike any other match for Louise, except for the fact that she had watched her father and fellow team member, Jim Maclure, fight for his life a week earlier when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed while batting in the Riverstone v Schofields sixth grade game at Mill Street Oval.

Despite the efforts of fellow team members and fire brigade crews from the nearby Riverstone Fire Station, tragically, Jim could not be revived and died on the field.

His funeral was held on Friday, November 6, at Castlebrook Cemetery in Rouse Hill.

Less than 24 hours later, despite her team telling her to "take a few weeks off", Louise was back on the field with the support of her mother Tracey, twin sister Sarah and older sister Melissa, saying her father would be proud of her.

"It's what he would have wanted me to do," she said.

"He loved cricket and it was something we did together, so he would have wanted me to continue doing what we loved.

"It was hard for me to walk out without dad beside me, especially as I'm the opening bowler and he's always been the keeper. But I did it for him." Louise said her father played cricket when he was a kid, and began playing again after she took up the sport six years ago.

"He passed his love of cricket on to me and when I took it up, seeing me play spurred him onto playing again," she said.

Jim became very involved in the Schofields Cricket Club, taking up the position of president two years ago.

This added to a long list of other civic commitments including his leadership within the Netball Umpires Association, the Windsor High School P & C Comm- ittee and the Pitt Town Sports Club.

Schofields Cricket Club member and teammate George Stanley described Jim as a "great, community-minded man".

"He was always looking out for others," George said.

"He had a lot of time for young players, and was always making sure they were looked after."

George said the Maclure family were very close, turning out on weekends to support both Jim and Louise on the pitch.

"He travelled around the State in his job as an electrical supplier, but on the weekends he like nothing more than to be with his family," he said.

In a triumphant salute to Jim's memory, Schofields beat North Richmond Blue outright over the past two weeks for their first win for the season.