Our Barooga journey 2023

Moonee Valley Cricket Club's annual pilgrimage to the Barooga Over 35s cricket tournament continued this year, with a team taking to the field in the NSW border town from January 10-12.
Moonee Valley got the points in two of our three games, and finished fourth overall - and missed winning the tournament after going down by just 15 runs in the final-day decider.
At right: Our Barooga team - L-R. Back - Wasim Abbas, Matt Thomas, Craig Pridham, Adam Chapple, Tony Gleeson, Alistair Bloom, Mark Gauci. Front - Ihtisham Uddin, Daniel Phillips, Allan Cumming and Glen Courts.
It was our ninth Barooga since entering in 2014 - it was cancelled in 2021 due to the coronavirus.
Mark Gauci has played every game in our nine years at Barooga - 27 matches.
In recognition of the heat on the border at this time of year, Moonee Valley was given permission to wear a uniform of Hawaiian shirts and black shorts.
The games are all played under match conditions, and count towards the lifetime stats record of all players.
Our 2023 team comprised current Valley players, two former players in Craig Pridham and Adam Chapple and two Valley players who are unofficially retired - Tony Gleeson and Glen Courts. They all did us proud.