WHILE cricket is something he loves and the thing which brought him to Dubbo in the first place, it is family which Greg Buckley misses most when he returns to England next week.
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The RSL-Colts star has to return home on Monday in order to sort out some visa troubles and it could be up to six months before he is back in Dubbo.
The loss of Buckley is a huge blow to RSL-Colts' premiership hopes with the off-spinning all-rounder a key player for his club and also the local representative side.
But it is his partner Emily and young son Hugh who will be the hardest to leave behind.
"She (Emily) is starting nursing next week so she can't really leave so I've got to go on my own," he said,
"We can't all go which is tough but it has to be done and then I'll be back and hopefully there will be no more back and forth."
The man who scored his first Whitney Cup century earlier this season hoped to be back in three to four months but admitted some of the issues could take half a year to sort out.
While frustrated to be leaving at such a crucial time in the season, Buckley confessed there was no point fighting it and the sooner he got it all straightened out the sooner he could be back on Australian shores.
"I'll miss the rest of this season and it can take up to six months but I think I'll definitely be back for the start of next season," he said, before speaking about second-placed Colts' chances for the rest of the season.
"We're a pretty good team and we all play well together but a couple of the boys will have to step up and just score a few more and someone will have to take on that role as the spinner who ties it down.
"I think we just need to get through these next weeks and get into the finals and from there anyone can win."
Buckley leaves the Whitney Cup for 2015-16 having scored 373 runs at an average of 53 while he also took 14 wickets at an average of 12.8 and the best figures of 5-22.
His departure was also a blow to the Cricketer's Arms Journeymen's McDonald's Megahit hopes while he was also missing from the Dubbo line-up contesting Sunday's Western Zone Premier League grand final at Bathurst.
"I can't really play with it being my last day here," he said of Sunday's match.
"But I've got all my fingers crossed and will be in contact with them. It would have been great to be there but it is what it is."
Determined to return to Dubbo as soon as he could, Buckley was hopeful this would be the final time he was forced home for reasons other than spending time with family.
And when he did get back to the central west, the Englishman was ready to call Australia home for good.
"I'll get this out of the way and be back in three to four months hopefully and start again," he said.
"There's been three years of back and forth so one of us has to make that sacrifice and move for good and I like it here, we have family here and I feel settled and it's a good place."
