Legacy of Warrnambool's Tubbie & Rayz Indoor Batting House lives on

Steve 'Tubbie' Taylor died of a suspected heart attack on January 17, aged 48.

The former Sydney resident moved to Warrnambool in 2019 after falling in love with the region on a caravan trip with his wife Kat.

He noticed a niche in Warrnambool's cricket market and in 2020 he and his son Anthony, affectionately known as Rayz, started their own business called Tubbie & Rayz Indoor Batting House.

The 320 square-metre facility has two full-length synthetic cricket pitches and one self-feeding Bola bowling machine which can be set for cricket or baseball batting practice.

Tubbie's wife Kat said she didn't have much to do with the business prior to her husband's sudden death.

"But I want to keep his legacy alive and so that's why I'm keeping the batting house open," she said.

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Mrs Taylor said her husband was a passionate business owner who loved his community and had big dreams for the business.

"He was so passionate in helping the community and cricketers. When they came in to practice, he'd help them, give them hints and even egg them on," she said.

"He loved to chat, especially about the cricket, and he would always go round on a Saturday and watch all the games for the cricket clubs in the community."

Mrs Taylor said Tubbie was always there to lend a helping hand to emerging cricketers, as well as other small business owners.

"He was all about helping others," she said.

"When he built the centre, he made sure he bought local. He bought the artificial turf through The One Stop Lawn Shop and all the electrical work was done by Price Electrical.

"He also sponsored a lot of up-and-coming cricketers. He saw a future in them and they'd use the facility for half-an-hour for free. He would never charge them."

Mrs Taylor said the business would remain open for the cricket community, and for Tubbie.

"We plan to keep things running the way he had it but looking at the future, we hope to open a bar in the off season and add the golf simulator that he was always telling everybody about," she said.

"In the Easter, we're also looking at doing some one-on-one coaching clinics with women's cricket representative Steph Townsend. And we want to keep sponsoring local clubs as much as we can."

Tubbie, who had 10 years of experience with indoor bowling/pitching machines, built an automatic feeder for the bowling machine which allowed coaches to focus more on mentoring and less on the ball delivery.

Tubbie & Rayz Indoor Batting House is located at 35 Coghlans Road, Warrnambool, and is open from 5pm to 10pm.

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