Valley family comes together

The Moonee Valley Cricket Club family showed its true colors when it came together in the new pavilion on November 24 for a fundraiser.
Well over 100 people gathered in the pavilion for an afternoon of fun and festivities to support Tien Polonidis, while the Fourths and the Sevenths took to the field on adjoining grounds.
At right: Tien (left) and husband Jim enjoy the afternoon with some of their friends.
Many of the gathering and players were wearing pink MVCC caps, curator Ian “Spider” Beel painted the boundary lines in pink and both games were played with pink stumps.
The fundraiser was to help raise some money for medical bills for Tien, a 46-game player at Moonee Valley and wife of Life member Jim Polonidis.
The Fourths game was umpired (at his request) by past MVCC coach Lou Raffaele, who also donated a number of items of sports memorabilia for a silent auction as part of the fundraiser.
The bar did brisk business under the control of Committee members Mark Gauci, Channa DeSilva and others, with the profits going to the fundraiser.
The day was a reminder of why we’re a big family at Moonee Valley.
***More photos to come

Firsts hit the record books

Moonee Valley’s First Eleven broke a two-decade old record when they went on a run-fest against Bellbridge on November 16. 
At right: Our record-breaking team: L-R. Back - Shiwantha Kumara, Nadeera Thuppahi, Anthony Cafari, Nate Wolland, Joshua Gorry and Ben Thomas. Front - Sumit Anand, Sameera Vithana, Jack Newman, Dan Comande and Channa DeSilva.
The score beat the previous highests First Eleven total of 439, set in 2000/01 against Haig Amateurs when we were still in the Moreland Moonee Valley Cricket Association turf competition.
The team from way back then included club legend Ian Denny with an imperious 146, past Presidents Darren Nagle (13) and Sandro Capocchi (50), and current coach Tony Gleeson (a duck).
We went on to win the MMVCA A Grade premiership in that season, so the current crop of First Eleven players have got something else to aim for.
In setting the new record we were 3/155 at the tea break, but put the foot down as the Bellbridge bowlers tired and the wicket flattened, and took full toll.
As well as Anthony’s 129, Sumit Anand made 69 in his first game in the Firsts, and Sameera Vithana 67.
Coming in at No. 10, Shiwantha Kumara reached his 50 with a four off the last ball of the day.
At the other end was Daniel Comande with 47no, while Joshua Gorry reached 47 in quick time when it came to his turn to bat.
Bellbridge worked hard on day 2 of the match to reach 153 off 61 overs, with Sameera (4 wickets) and Shiwantha (3) getting amongst it.

TALONE DYNASTY

The Talone name is set to grace the pages of Moonee Valley's senior history for many more years to come, with the debut of young gun Max.
Max pulled on the whites for his first senior game alongside dad John "Odie" Talone in the Sevenths at Ormond Park on November 24.
Max's debut came a week later than great mate Zac Nilsson, who played his first senior game in the Sevenths alongside dad Tony.
At right: Club legend John Talone played with son Max in his senior debut.
Zac and Max are set to be mainstays of Moonee Valley senior sides for many seasons to come.
Odie was Secretary of our great Club for 14 years, as a reliable foil to legendary president Darren "Spud" Nagle.
Leading up to this season Odie had played 306 games - equal fourth-most of all time at our Club - and scored 4787 runs.
Max is having a solid season as a mainstay of our Under 12s, but was ready for senior cricket.
His older brother Luke is yet to make his senior debut at Moonee Valley, preferring to umpire cricket at this stage. But don't write Luke off yet.

TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING

 

Above: The Premiership players/Team of the Decade winners: All here! L-R: Back - Dean Jukic, Jack Newman, Ian Denny, Kane Harding, Jim Polonidis, Mark Gauci, Craig Pridham (dressed as Batwoman), Daniel Phillips, Jesse Felle, Ben Thomas, Brett Curran, Matt Thomas, Raj Aiyappan, Murray Walker, Sean O'Kane, Geoff McKeown. Front - Danny Terzini, Dean Lawson, Dan Comande, Bede Gannon, Peter Golding, Lou Raffaele, Channa DeSilva, Liam Shaw and Sam Carbone.
Our first official big function in the new Ormond Park clubrooms was our 2009/10 Firsts/Seconds Premiership reunion and selection and announcement of the Teams of the Decade from that year, and it was a raging success.
It was a time for story-telling and for introduction of the players to the crowd - superbly handled by Life Member and Moonee Valley legend Ian Denny.
Our new, big rooms are designed for family-friendly entertainment, so wives and partners were on hand to hit the dance floor as soon as the presentations were over.
We had a First Eleven home game at Ormond Park on the day of the October 26 function, and at our request most of our games started a bit earlier than usual, so the guys also had plenty of time at the end of the match to get showered and changed and dress up for the occasion.
For more photos and details, click HERE. 

Moonee Valley - get on board

Moonee Valley Cricket Club has seven senior teams and five junior teams for the 2019/20 season, and can still find places for new players.
If YOU want to be part of it, get on board now!
Coach Tony Gleeson is keen for players to be challenged, so there are plenty of opportunities for more new players to come on board and push for spots.
So anyone keen to come down to - or come back to - Moonee Valley should phone Tony Gleeson on 0427 043 891, Vice President Mark Gauci on 0457 778 335 or President Charlie Walker on 0411 705 381. You can also email us at mooneev@club.cricketvictoria.com.au

     Main Club contact details:

* Charlie Walker - President/Secretary 0411 705 381; 9370 1802
* Peter Golding - Treasurer 0419 009 721
* Mark Gauci - Vice President 0457 778 335
* Peter Pickering - Junior Co-ordinator 0414 800 145  pjp@vicbar.com.au 
* Channa DeSilva - Membership Co-ordinator 0402 833 592

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: November 28, 2019.
For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE