By Tara Murray
Cricketers and the broader Sunbury community have paid tribute to former East Sunbury captain-coach Jessy Carroll, who lost his battle with cancer.
Carroll died surrounded by his family on November 17 after a three year battle with the disease.
A large crowd attended his funeral on Friday, and all Gisborne and District Cricket Association players wore armbands on Saturday in his memory.
East Sunbury Cricket Club president Mark Wilkins said the support they had received since Carroll’s death had been overwhelming.
He said Carroll would be remembered as one of the most important people in the club’s history.
Wilkins said while they knew Carroll didn’t have long left, it was still really tough to lose him.
“Jessy brought some professionalism to the club, making it not just a local club,” Wilkins said.
“He was a born leader. He is one of those guys who can’t be replaced.
“He was always the first person at the club to help out.”
Carroll joined East Sunbury in 2012-13 when he came across from Sunbury United with then Thunder coach Steve Grey.
Carroll had an impact with both the bat and ball for the Thunder, eventually playing 61 games for the club.
In October 2015, he was diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma while backpacking overseas.
With his health improving, Carroll was appointed the Thunder’s captain-coach for the 2016-17 season and even returned to the field.
However, in early 2017, his health deteriorated and the local community got behind him to help with medical expenses.
Carroll when into remission but the cancer returned and unfortunately couldn’t be beaten this time.
Wilkins said while some people doubted Carroll was ready to take on the coaching role when he did, it was something he thrived on.
“He became a leader,” Wilkins said.
“At times he did speak without thinking, but he’d try and convince you to agree with him.
“He was one of those guys who was also the first to help talk things over and would source it out if he wasn’t sure. He would find out how to help.
“He did everything at the club … He would have taken over the job of running the [East Sunbury] sporting club.”
Wilkins said even this season when he was getting sicker, Carroll would still call to see what was happening around the club.
Wilkins said Carroll was the first player to pay his registration for this season, despite not playing a game.
He was also on the phone wanting to know what was going on at the club when he couldn’t be there.
The impact of Carroll’s death was felt right across the cricket and wider community.
Sunbury captain-coach Brad Hunter said his club’s thoughts were with Carroll’s friends and family and that the relationships they built through cricket go beyond the cricket field.
Other clubs posted their condolences on social media pages.
