Valley link to the Aussie Test cricketers

The Moonee Valley Cricket Club has a direct link to the Australian Test team, with past Valley player Fawad Ahmed being drafted in to bowl to the Aussies in the nets during the First Test in Brisbane.

Fawad played a couple of Twenty20 games with Moonee Valley in the 2010/11 competition, and retains strong links with our Club through our contingent of Pakistani players.

Fawad is playing with Premier club Melbourne University this season, and the Commonwealth's recent decision to grant him permanent residency is expected to pave the way to him coming into contention to play for Victoria and to win a lucrative Big Bash contract as a local player.

Key Moonee Valley import player Ihtisham Uddin was instrumental in Fawad's first big break, when he secured him a contract with a NSW club to enable him to get to Australia for the first time.

Fawad then played a role getting Ihtisham to Moonee Valley - where he quickly proved his worth.

Ihtisham, now in his third season at Moonee Valley, is in constant contact with Fawad - who has visited Ormond Park a number of times.

Ishti is a key to Moonee Valley's growing involvement with Pakistan-born cricketers, having secured leg spinner Khalid Hassan for us this season, and engineering the return of tearaway quick Nasir Ahmed, who is due to return in a couple of weeks.

He has also engineered the transfer of several other players to Moonee Valley in recent weeks.