The 33-year-old brings up another milestone tomorrow when he plays his 200th game for the club.

Collier, who will line up in the seconds against Mount Clear, said he was delighted to have spent his whole career at East.

“It’s a brilliant place to be, it’s like your second family,” he said.

“You grow up with a lot of people and a lot of people go on the journey with you, you become life-long mates, it’s a good family atmosphere, all the girls get on really well, which is good, all the kids get along, so it’s a pretty good environment to be in, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Collier began his career in the late 80s as a junior before making his A grade debut in the 1993-94 season.

He went onto have a distinguished career as the team’s opening bowler and helped them achieve back-to-back premierships in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

“We were a bloody good team, without sounding too arrogant,” he said. “We had a lot of good cricketers in those teams and we were lucky enough to get two in a row.”

While Collier said the premierships were his best memories his biggest individual glory came when he took nine wickets against Mount Clear.

He dislocated his shoulder in the 2006-07 season which led to five more dislocations and two operations.

Club president Mark Simpson paid tribute to Collier for his playing efforts and his role as turf wicket curator and committee member.

He also praised Collier for bringing his mother Elaine into the club, who still acts as the first eleven manager and makes “the best afternoon tea of any club in Ballarat.”

Collier’s club mate James Alexander also brings up two milestones tomorrow.

He is playing his 150th match for East Ballarat and his 200th senior match having played at Brown Hill during his time away from the club.

The opening batsmen returned to East to be with relatives and said his highlights included fourths and fifths premierships in 2003-04 and 2004-05; as well as his innings of 172 in 2002.