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Jonty's Jottings - January 18/19

by Brendan Rhodes

Let's start with a call out for players as we try to get through the Australia Day long weekend successfully. We are looking for anyone who is interested in playing a two-day home match in 6th Grade over the next two Saturdays alongside Dejan Gilevski and Jakob Haskell, and anyone keen to test themselves out in a 3rd Grade one-day match in Parkville on Saturday. 3rd Grade is playing at the same level as 4s under our club treasurer and experienced cricketer Peter Golding and is a good opportunity to test yourself out on turf before juniors start again next week. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are keen for a game.

The club has also launched the return of its annual Pie Drive through Tony's Pies of Essendon. I can say from experience that these pies are absolutely delicious, and you will certainly enjoy them too! Every pie sold brings money into the club and will help keep your fees down for next season. Please find attached an order form that you can fill out and return with payment to myself or your junior coach by February 8. We are also in discussions to possibly come up with a prize for the person who sells the most pies, so get around your family and friends! They (and we) will thank you for it.

Now, onto the cricket, where our juniors performed very well to help us record three wins, a draw and three losses from our seven matches last weekend. Our 1sts, 2nds and 5ths had crucial wins to either consolidate their ladder positions or stay in touch with the top 4, the 4s were in a winning positions when we got hit by a hailstorm (see attached photo), while the 3s and 6s slipped up and the 7s enjoyed their day despite the result.

I also forgot to post photos of our three champion rep players, so you can see just how great they look in the NWMCA blue and red in the attachments as well. Congratulations again to all three of you!

Here are the results from last week:

1st Grade - 40 overs - Moonee Valley 7/108 def Jacana 107 by three wickets with 17 balls to spare. An excellent team bowling performance bundled the Jaguars out for a small total, with Alec McIntyre (3/18) cleaning up the tail after Anthony Cafari (2/15) and Sameera Vithana (2/19) did the earlier damage. But the batting crumbled early before Under-12s coach Josh Gorry (34no) took it upon himself to save the day and send us to the top of the ladder. Ladder Position: 1st

2nd Grade - 40 overs - Moonee Valley 8/197 def Jacana 174 by 23 runs. An absolutely vital victory to get back within a win of the top four. Sumit Anand (53) made a return to form with his best score for a while to lead the batting, while Geoff McKeown (31) gave strong support in his first hit for the season and Nate Wolland (25no) and Suraj Weerasinghe (25) stepped up. Jacana's No.3 threatened to take the game away with a terrific innings, but all the bowlers contributed to pull them up short of the target, including Jim Polonidis (2/27) and Sumit (2/34). Suraj shared in six dismissals (three stumpings, two run outs and a catch) with the gloves on. Luca Nimorakiotakis (5no and 1/28) and Josh Norsetter (dnb and 2/24) both played important roles in securing the points. Ladder Position: 5th

3rd Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 118 lost to La Trobe CBD 8/119 by two wickets with 114 balls to spare. A sub-standard batting performance saw the 3s miss out on a golden chance to take top spot on a congested ladder and left us in danger of falling out of the four altogether. Ian Denny (32), Matt Esmore (29) and Sunil Bhandari (27) provided the only resistance with the bat, but it almost was enough as Sohail Hussain (2/16) and Josh Norsetter (1/15) put the skids on the chase early. Ultimately, La Trobe scraped to a third win from three games against us this season. Hopefully we get another crack at them. Ladder Position: 4th

4th Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 8/157 drew Monash University 2/34. I am absolutely certain we were heading towards a third win for the season before Mother Nature intervened with a spectacular display that left the ground white and our faint finals hopes sadly over. A gutsy batting performance led by Geoff McKeown (35) and backed by Sam Carbone (26) and Markus Harris (26) set up a competitive total before Jaykumar Patel (2/15) bowled a rapid spell that had Monash's batsmen begging the umpire to go off early. Felix Fischer sacrificed his wicket in selfless fashion chasing quick runs in the final over and was just about to bowl when the weather hit. Ladder Position: 7th

5th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 6/199 def Aberfeldie-St Johns 56 by 143 runs. Another easy victory for the 5s to move one step closer to sealing home finals throughout the business end of the season. Skipper Dom Rettino (69no) was outstanding, backed by Jesse Nankivell-Sandor (33) and Cassidy Box (32no) before the bowlers blitzed the Saints to 8/36 before a late rally. Cassidy (3/10), Justin Trowell (2/10), Shane Chalmers (2/12) and Paddy Shelton (2/24) were all in on the gig. Ladder Position: 2nd

6th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 160 lost to Pascoe Vale Central 7/202 by 42 runs. This match was lost by a terrible batting collapse from what was a strong line-up, but our two junior boys were outstanding in trying to get the team into the top four. It was great to see Dejan Gilevski (1/24) and Tomas Morrissy (0/16) opening the bowling together in a great sign for the future. Jesse Felle (3/21) and Tom Sudholz (2/46) claimed the wickets. Almost any hope of victory disappeared when we crashed to 6/34, but Dejan (35) played a brilliant innings beyond his years to set up Darren "Spud" Nagle (39), Tom Sudholz (31) and Tomas Morrissy (19) for a late flurry at an unlikely win. Ladder Position: 6th

7th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 46 lost to Aintree 371 by 325 runs. The scoreboard suggests this was a day to forget, but the majority of our players walked off the ground saying they had a lot of fun. It was brilliant to see Bill Nimorakiotakis have a game with his sons Luca and Noah, while Alex Pleban lined up alongside his son Dylan and Murray Price again played with his son Jackson. Luca (2/55) picked up a couple of wickets, Bill (1/80) grabbed his first one for the club - well done mate! - and Noah (0/56) bowled better than that. Dylan came on at the end and took 2/2 off 2.1 great overs. Bill's mate George Manousos (3/53) was the most successful bowler on debut. Aintree's bowlers were too good, but everyone - including Dylan (7), Bill (3), Luca (2), Noah (1) and Alex (0no) walked off with their heads high and a smile on their faces. Why don't you and your son join them next week? Ladder Position: 8th