Welcome to our winter cricket!

Welcome to winter cricket at Moonee Valley!

Greetings to everyone who has indicated an interest in playing for Moonee Valley in our second season in the Mid Year Cricket Association.

We have had almost 30 players express an interest in being available for all or some of the games, so there will be strong competition for a place in the team each round.

Congratulations to Michael Ozbun (left) on being appointed our captain for 2014. Anyone who has played cricket with Ozzie over the past two seasons knows of the infectious enthusiasm he brings to a sport he has only recently taken on, so we know we’re in good hands.

Ozzie will form the selection committee along with Matt Thomas. With the roster of available players their job will be difficult, and so training form will be taken into account.

This is one element of the selection process. More specifically, the selection committee will be weighing up attendance at training, form and adherence to the codes of conduct that underpin our Moonee Valley Cricket Club and the Association.

Training session dates and times will be communicated to players via email, SMS and our Moonee Valley website – www.mooneevalleycricket.com.au – so watch out for the details.

We have been allocated Fairbairn Park No. 8 oval as our home ground, and our outdoor training will be in the nets at No. 1 oval – the ground used in summer by Aberfeldie-St Johns. The nets are beside the clubroom as you drive into the central parking area at Fairbairn Park.

We have again been fixtured in the 10-team Central Division of MYCA, with five home games and four away games as part of the nine-match season.

However, with a number of Central Division teams based at Fairbairn Park, only one of our games is away from that venue – so travel commitments are minimal. And the away trip is only to Boeing Reserve at Strathmore Heights.

As was the case last year, players will be asked to pay a flat $20 per match played in this competition. This will cover ball costs, umpire fees, our affiliation fee for membership of the MYCA, our afternoon tea, ground rental fee, player insurance coverage through our existing Moonee Valley Cricket Club membership policy and associated other costs.

The current version of the fixture shows our season opener on Saturday, May 3 against Northern Lions A – an away game at Fairbairn Park No. 4 oval.

We then play a home game against Northern Lions B on May 10, and a home game against RMIT 3 on May 24. All our games are on Saturdays. They start at midday, and play 35 overs per innings.

Games played in the winter competition will count on your lifetime playing record, along with runs scored and wickets taken.

There will be a separate table of MYCA 2014 season statistics in the annual Moonee Valley Wisden, and these will be incorporated in the All-Time table along with our summer competition statistics.

As was the case last year, we intend to hold a presentation event at the completion of the season – possibly in conjunction with a pre-season function or first-round function for our summer season.

We have the regular spread of trophies and presentations that we have with our summer teams – batting, bowling and fielding awards, an MVP and milestone recognition awards.

These are also permanently recorded in the Moonee Valley Wisden, along with other team achievements such as record partnerships, team batting and bowling records and player achievements.

So welcome to Year 2 of another exciting initiative of the Moonee Valley Cricket Club, and we look forward to your involvement in the continued success of our Club.

Charlie Walker.
President,
Moonee Valley Cricket Club