Captain appointments

Appointments: Captains now in place

Lou Raffaele has been reappointed coach of the Moonee Valley Cricket Club after taking on the role in 2007/08, while Mark Gauci has been appointed First Eleven captain for the fourth year.

Our Chairman of Selectors for 2008/09 is Mark "Junior" Cini (right), who has been at Moonee Valley for more than a decade and has played more than 100 games. Mark brings excellent analytical skills to the position of Chairman, and knows the players and their capabilities.

Club President Charlie Walker said Mark was an excellent choice as Chairman of Selectors, and would bring a fresh outlook to the selection table.

Daniel Phillips (left) has been reappointed as captain of the Second Eleven - the fourth year in which he has held this role.

Dino Sapuppo is captain of the Third Eleven. Dino previously held this position in 2006/07, and has proved to be a formidable opponent on the field.

Danny Terzini is captain of our Fourth Eleven, after captaining our Thirds several seasons ago when they were in A Mats.

Steve Malone has taken on the role as captain of the Fifth Eleven, and is keen for it to be a development team for some of our top juniors coming through to senior ranks. Steve is a past senior coach of Oak Park, and brings a wealth of experience to the job, particular with junior development.

Brett Curran (right) is captain of the Sixth Eleven - the third year he has led this team. A taste of finals last season has Brett and his crew hungry to go further.

In a break from tradition, the Club has elected to go with co-Captains of our Seventh Eleven - Ryan Fairclough and Jake Little. A chance of designation of grades has led to our Eighths from last season becoming this year's Sevenths. Jake, in his second year at Moonee Valley, and Ryan, in his fourth, bring a real enthusiasm to what we expect to be a settled squad which will hit the ground running. 

Richard Cooney (left) has been appointed captain of what had been our sevenths, but with the expansion of the Moreland Moonee Valley comp to three grades will now be designated our Eighth Eleven. Richard's no-nonsense style will suit the team, which we expect to be a mix of older players and younger ones coming through. Richard was one of the "parent pioneers" in 2001 who signed up to play in the precursor which led to our expansion.

Paul Comino again takes on a key junior development role as captain of the Ninth Eleven. Some young players still in junior ranks got valuable experience playing with Paul in the Ninths last season, and he will again be in charge of helping them settle in to senior ranks.

And our newest team - the Tenth Eleven - has Kevin Memery in charge - back to cricket about 20 years after retiring.

We will be interviewing for the positions of captain of our women's teams in mid-September.

The Club is still looking for new players for next season. Anyone interested in joining Moonee Valley should ring Charlie Walker on 0409 237 543 or Lou Raffaele on 0433 456 436.