A ton of class in the Fourths

MVCC "legend" Ian Denny, playing in Moonee Valley's Fourth Eleven on January 21 as a favor to captain Shaun Arnup, won the game off his own bat when the team was in diabolicals.

"Eggbert" took 2/10 off 7 overs in the Royal Park Reds innings (Moreland-Moonee Valley Cricket Association) to help restrict them to 9/155cc. It was a one-day game in what is usually a two-day grade.

Moonee Valley was 4/6 when Ian came to the crease, and very quickly 6/6. He then clubbed his way to 136no as Moonee Valley won the game, at 9/159.

The other MV batsmen made just 19 between them, and there were four extras.

Ian, who has played in six A Grade premierships, went into semi-retirement two seasons ago. He played just one game last year, to help out in the one-day grades.

This year he played another one-day game in the Seventh Eleven, and made 91. The club then engineered it so he played again in the Sevenths in the last round before the Christmas break, December 17 - when he became the first Moonee Valley player to 250 games. 

 It also meant we had our club Christmas party that evening to help him celebrate the milestone. He made 58no in that dig, which Moonee  Valley won.

It was at the Xmas party that he promised Shaun Arnup a game in the Fourths, which had been struggling a little.

Ironically, the 250th game was against Royal Park Reds' one-day side - and several of those guys played in their higher grade side in Ian's next game - so they were unimpressed to see him in action again.

That means that Ian's average this season from his three games is 285.00 - not bad for a bloke who hasn't trained for two seasons, and is in semi-retirement.

The hundred was Ian's 17th for the club, which moves him one ahead of Michael Harvey at the top of Moonee Valley's all-time list.