Cricket - we're back for 2023 - and Ishti's back too

Senior cricket resumes this weekend after our short Christmas break, and our Firsts, Seconds and Fourths are all on the park.

And another key resumption is our 2012/13 Club Champion Ihtisham Uddin, (pictured here), who has made a long-awaited return from Pakistan for the back half of this season.

Even though he's been away from Moonee Valley for 10 years, Ishti has been a big influence, and played key roles in the recruitment of Wasim Abbas and Salman Afridi this season.

Ishti has our third-best bowling average of all time, with 49 wickets @ 9.94 from his 23 games. He's also in our top 35 for batting, with 688 runs @ 32.76. So welcome back Ishti!

It's training as usual this week - Tuesday and Thursday from 6pm, and selection Thursday evening. Now's a good time to blow out the Xmas cobwebs and ensure we're primed for the second half of the season.

Our Firsts are equal first on the ladder, the Seconds are eighth but looking confident after some improved performances and our Fourths are sixth - just two points off fourth spot.

Our Fifths and Sixths resume the following weekend - January 14, and our women's team resumes from their break on January 29.

The Firsts are at home to Laverton this Saturday, while the Seconds are away at Laverton Park main oval. The Fourths are away on Sunday to Maccabi Ajax, at Albert Park.

And don't forget we have two Twenty20 games coming up in quick succession - Round 3 on January 10 and Round 4 on January 17, before leading in to the finals. Keep this fixture in mind.