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****OUR WISDEN - IT'S OUT NOW

Moonee Valley's 2016/17 is now out, and it comprises 112 pages of great reading, stats, photos and facts.
Wisden has been a labor of love since it was first produced annually by our club in 1983/84, and it details every player to have pulled on the whites for Moonee Valley, and all their stats. You can click on the link to the online version HERE.
Junior Wisden, which details the same for our youngsters, is also in production, although it's a couple of seasons behind.
So what are the secrets of our 2016/17 Wisden?
*Who's captain of our Wisden Team of the Year?
Jim Polonidis

*Who grabbed third spot on our all-time list of most runs in a season?
*Who's the first Moonee Valley player to take a double hat-trick?
*Who are the opening batting pair in our Wisden Team of the Year?
*Who are the five players voted by our experts as the Wisden Players of the Year?
*Who's the odd man out - a Wisden Player of the Year, but not selected in the 12 for Team of the Year?
*Which new record partnerships were set in 2016/17?
*How many players pulled on the whites for our winter comp teams in 2016?
Shane McDonald

*Who were our stars in the Barooga Over 35s tournament in January?
*How many centuries were scored by Moonee Valley batsmen in 2016/17?
*Who's won the most batting, bowling and fielding awards over the years?
These are the sorts of questions that our players regularly ask around the clubrooms during the season, and to while away the hours over winter while we wait for the 2017/18 cricket season to roll around.
So sit back, and flip through the pages of Wisden. The answers are all there.

Jatinder Singh was bowled - but the bails didn't dislodge!

Jatinder's wicket - it's seen

around the world

Moonee Valley's Jatinder Singh (pictured below) was at the centre of one of the most bizarre incidents to take place on a cricket field for many a day, when he was bowled with a ball which knocked middle stump out of the ground.
But the two bails were touching, braced against each other and refused to fall, in the Round 2 match in our winter comp on May 6.
The result has been world-wide publicity for the Moonee Valley Cricket Club, including phone calls from Lord's, from the cricket-mad media in India and intense interest from media and the community across Australia.
***See the photo at right, taken by Nitin Madan.
Jatinder Singh - world-wide attention.

Running the show for the Valley and promoting us in our best light has been Moonee Valley Black winter comp captain Michael Ozbun, who's proved himself a consummate veteran in handling the media.
While the general rule of cricket is that you're not out if the bails aren't dislodged, the umpire correctly called "out" on the basis that the stump was removed and the wicket "put down".
Quick-thinking Valley teammate Nitin Madan snapped a photo of the wicket and then the Mid Year Cricket Association capitalised on the publicity, posting it to the MyCricket website and Facebook page.
After just a couple of days it had close to 3000 comments, most on whether or not it was out or not-out. That didn't help poor Jatinder though, who was on his way for just 12. And the Moonee Valley Leader picked it up and sent it viral.
That was just the start of the publicity.
Michael Ozbun was interviewed by Red Symons on 774 radio on May 11, and gave as good as he got. Here's the interview.
The Kashmir Times got into the act, talking to both Ozzie and JT. The cricket.com.au website was on the radar, the Herald Sun took it up, and Sporting News called it the strangest dismissal in cricket history.
Yahoo/Seven Sport got in on the act, the Huffington Post blew in, it made its way across the Ditch to New Zealand and it hit the headlines in the India Times.
The freak occurrence knocked finance off the front page of the International Business Times, was rushed into My Express, shone brightly in the Daily Star, graced the website of Sports Keeda, and featured in the Indian Express, One India and CricSpirit. Jatinder shone brightly in the Sunshine Coast Daily, and even the venerable home of cricket, Lord's, got into the act. The ABC on its website called for Cricket Australia to give us a new set of stumps. We're still waiting.
Jatinder - you're a star!

Valley's among the awards at

Mercantile's big night

Moonee Valley players were among the awards at the Mercantile Cricket Association's presentation night on May 6.

Jesse Felle won the Anthony Burnell award for the best player in the C North Division - Moonee Valley's Thirds - as voted by the umpires on a week-by-week basis.

Sam Carbone (Left) is pictured with his Batting Award trophy.

And Sam Carbone won the batting award in the D Sunday Division - Moonee Valley's Fourths - with 426 runs @ 53.15.

Jesse was also selected in the Mercantile team of the year, batting at No. 8, after his all-round MCA effort across 2016/17 with 541 runs and 34 wickets.

Jesse Felle with his Mercantile best player award. Sam and Jesse attended the presentation night, at Windy Hill, with Club Treasurer and regular Mercantile player Peter Golding.

The 2016/17 Mercantile season was a solid one for Moonee Valley, making the Grand Final in each of our two grades, but unfortunately not performing to the optimum on the big day.

At right: Jesse Felle with his Mercantile best player award - the Anthony Burnell Award for Best & Fairest.

A Medal for selection in the Mercantile Team of the Year. That's our Jesse Felle. The fact that we got so far in the two grades also reflects the contributions made by Sam and Jesse.

Sam had a stellar season, and not just in the Fourths. A cricket fanatic, he took to the field whenever he was able to fit in a game. Across one game in the Seconds, four in the Thirds, 10 in the Fourths, six in the Fifths and one in the Sixths, Sam amassed 686 runs at an average of 34.3, including one century. He was also a go-to man with the ball for Fourths skipper Shane McDonald, taking five wickets at 19.8.

At left: A Medal for selection in the Mercantile Team of the Year. That's our Jesse Felle.

Jesse also ventured out from the Thirds, where he played 15 games - notching up a further two in the Fourths and one in the Sixths.

Jesse's overall tally for the season was 542 runs @ 31.88 and 35 wickets @ 12.69 - including Moonee Valley's first-ever double hat-trick.

OUR WINTER WARRIORS TAKE TO THE FIELD

Our Moonee Valley Black team for the Round 2 win. L-R: Back - Michael Ozbun, Jatinder Singh, Matt Thomas, Anthony Cafari, Junaid Niazi, Jesse Felle, Kunal Balhara, Matt Esmore and Nitin Madan. Front - Chris Pollock, Akshat Sehgal.

Moonee Valley has made a promising start to the winter cricket season, with our Black team winning two from two and our Whites champing at the bit for Round 2 to come around after falling short in the season opener.

We've had some strong batting performances at the top of the order in Michael Ozbun's Blacks team, while Matt Esmore (5 wickets) and Chris Pollock (4 wickets) have been prominent with the ball.

Aidan Kanj was the batting star in the Round 1 fixture for Shane McDonald's White team.

Main Club contact details:

* Charlie Walker - President 0409 237 543; 9370 1802
* Peter Golding - Club Treasurer 0419 009 721
* Simon Thornton - Vice President 0417 570 779
* Peter Pickering - Junior Co-ordinator 0414 800 145 pjp@vicbar.com.au
* Channa DeSilva - Director of Junior Cricket 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: May 26, 2017.
For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE