200 up - Gauch reaches the magical Mark

One of Moonee Valley Cricket Club's true leaders, Mark Gauci, joined rarified company when he played his 200th Club game on February 9.
Only 16 other players in the 42-year history of our Club have reached the milestone before him, and four of them were in the Fifth Eleven with him when he played the landmark match - which Moonee Valley won easily to hold our spot on the top of the Mercantile Sunday one-day ladder.
The milestone ensures that Mark will be inducted as a Life Member at the end of this season - and to see him join that elite company were no fewer than 12 Life Members either playing or watching his milestone game during the course of the afternoon.
Gauch ensured it was a milestone match by hitting a whirlwind 45 - one single, one two and the rest in fours and sixes - before he was curiously adjusted LBW to a shot that had almost the full face of the bat. Fittingly, he took a catch to snare the last wicket and finish off the game.
Mark Gauci is a true leader of our Club, and captained our most recent First Eleven premiership, in 2009/10. He captained our Firsts for eight seasons before stepping down as skipper at the start of 2013/14. He's held his place in the Ones though, but played Fifths this round to help manage a niggling hamstring injury.
He told of things to come almost 10 years ago when asked about his future: "I love the game and the club I play for. I will play 200 games or more - trust me!" How true!
Mark has made more than 4000 runs, is approaching 150 wickets and was our first play to hit a ton in each of our top four grades.
He's a three-time Moonee Valley Wisden Cricketer of the Year, and in 2010/11 was captain of our Moonee Valley Team of the Year.
Above: The victorious team to bring home the bacon in Mark Gauci's 200th game. L-R: Sandro Capocchi, James Holt, Lou Raffaele, Mark Gauci, Michael Harvey, Craig Pridham, Sean O'Kane, Darren Nagle, Ian Denny and Daniel Phillips. Front: Luke Brock and Jack Newman.
To see a photo of Mark celebrating with clubmates in the rooms at the end of the match, click HERE.

Our Mick makes merry for his 150th game
Moonee Valley's own Michael "Mickster" Cumbo got into the party spirit when he played his 150th game on February 1.

Clubmates celebrated the significant milestone as Mickster - one of our most beloved players - held centre stage in the clubrooms after being part of the Sevenths win.

And on the following day, Life Member Michael Harvey played his 250th game, alongside James Holt playing his 50th club game in the Fifths.

Mickster is a wonderful contributor to our Club and players old and young alike wished him all the best on the achievement.

Our Mick has scored a century with the bat, taken a hat-trick and contributed as fielding coach and assistant coach for several junior premiership teams.

He's always one of the first to commit to attending our Club functions, and is the life of the party with his raucous laughter and infectious good humor.

Well done Mick, and let the next milestone roll on now!

Above right: Our Mickster: Michael Cumbo stands in front of the Club's Toyota marquee as he celebrates his 150th game.
Above left: James Holt (left) with 50 games and Life Member Michael Harvey with 250 also achieved important milestones for our Club.
For team photos, click HERE.

Be sure you can bet your house on Sam

At left: Our Moonee Valley Seconds players in front of the sign. L-R: Back - Lou Raffaele, Tom King, Daniel Comande, Mitchell Evans, Adam Patchell and Simon Thornton. Front - Alistair Ferrier, Sam Carbone, captain Jacob de Niese, Stephen Ward and Bryce Peter-Budge.











Nelson Alexander, the real estate company of Moonee Valley cricketer Sam Carbone, has become a major sponsor of our Club.

Now in his second season at Moonee Valley, Sam is prominent around our Club. He's one of the hardest trainers, is happy to support whatever is happening and is keen to pull on the whites and represent Moonee Valley at every opportunity.

His work as a partner in a real estate agency means Sam has a lot of weekend work, and it's to his credit that he is able to regularly juggle his schedule to play cricket. He's one of the band of dedicated players who puts his hand up to double up for a second game on a weekend where required.

Sam is based at Nelson Alexander's Keilor East office, and has built  up an excellent reputation for his dedication and integrity as an agent. He supports Moonee Valley Cricket Club, and we encourage our members to support one of our own in return.

An Avondale Heights resident for more than 20 years - and an agent for more than two decades - Sam really is an expert in the region. With superior local knowledge, he has been called on to provide expert real estate opinions by local councils, major banking institutions and countless local businesses.

Sam's office is at 24 The Centreway. He can be contacted at his office on 9331 6200, or by mobile on 0408 242 628. 

 Our Barooga adventure in the scorching heat

A hardy bunch of Moonee Valley cricketers braved the January heatwave conditions when we entered a team for the 10th annual Barooga Masters Cricket Festival.

The impetus for our entry in the over-35s turf tournament was Moonee Valley cricketer and forme Barooga boy Sean O'Kane, and he led from the front with 100 runs @ 33.3, and topped the tournament for sixes.

Moonee Valley had the honor of opening the tournament on Monday, January 13, playing under lights and with the magnificent electronic scoreboard at the new Barooga Cricket Club rooms.

We had the worst of the conditions in each of our three games - losing the toss each time and batting in the hottest part of the day as the temperature soared past 40 degrees - but still finished third overall.

The turf wickets were magnificent - and we had the unique honor of not having one duck among our players across the three innings.

Our team comprised mainly Moonee Valley regulars from across our seven grades, but Sean was able to top up the sides when needed from his former clubmates still living at Barooga, in NSW on the Murray River across from Cobram.

We're already planning to return next January to give the tournament a real shake - hopefully with the weather a little bit kinder to us.

Our teams played under the Moonee Valley Cricket Club banner - wearing our black shirts for the night game, and our Moonee Valley whites for the day fixtures.

Shown above is our team from the tournament opening night. L-R: Back - Chris Albert, Dean Jukic, Daniel Phillips, Jason Noonan, Jason Brooks and Kel Twite. Front - Neil King,Charlie Walker, Tony Gleeson, Mark Gauci and Sean O'Kane.

****For more pictures, go to our News pages.

 Club season membership and affiliation payments
We're asking Moonee Valley members to finalise paying their season membership and affiliation fees, to give the club some ongoing money in our account to meet the usual costs such as balls, association affiliation fees and such.
We got a good boost to the account with prompt payment on junior registration day, but need to build on it.
**For details on the fee structure and information on how to pay, go to the "Club News" section on the menu bar at the top of this page

 Main Club contact details:

Charlie Walker - President 0409 237 543; 9370 1802
Peter Golding - Club Secretary 0419 009 721
Simon Thornton - Vice President 0417 570 779

Email: mooneev@club.cricketvictoria.com.au


For more contacts, see " Office bearers & Officials " under "Club News & Info" at the top of the page

Last updated: February 10, 2014.

For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE