 Our MVP night
A merry band of Moonee Valley players gathered in the clubrooms on the night of Saturday, March 10 for our Most Valuable Player awards night.
The occasion also saw the presentation of many of our milestone trophies - games milestones, wickets, runs (by the thousand), centuries and five-wicket hauls.
Many thanks to life member Joe Ansaldo for his tremendous job at catering the finger food for the night.
Pictured here are L-R: Firsts MVP Amit Chaudhary and captain Mark Gauci; MVCC coach Vic Hodge, and Sevenths captain Richard Cooney and MVP Bob Sciacchitano.
For more pictures, click HERE
Our Under 12s are still in the race
Moonee Valley's Under 12s are still in the finals race, after a hard-fought and thrilling win over nemesis club Brunswick in the quarter finals.
Our boys held their nerve and racked up the winning runs after a tight run chase, when William Blair and William D'Amico returned to the crease after retiring earlier.
Their win on March 10 came when Moonee Valley's other teams fell short on the semi final weekend - our Firsts, Thirds, Fourths, Fifths and Under 14 Black team.
This was on top of the rain-marred quarter-finals the previous weekend, which saw our Sevenths and Eighths bow out of the race when the higher-placed teams went through.
For a picture of our Under 12 team and its coaches, click HERE.
 The highs and lows of the Mighty Fighting Fourths
Four players from our Mighty Fighting Fourths jointly hold a unique piece of Moonee Valley history - they were part of the team which in 2008 made the Club's highest-ever score, and this year they held the opposition to the lowest-ever senior score against us.
Paul Hobbs, Dean Lawson, Steven Ball and skipper Brett Curran have seen the highs and lows - the 3/475 we clubbed against Buckley Park on November 1, 2008 when the squad was playing as the Sixths, and now the 29 all-out that Craigieburn made against us at Ormond Park on February 19 this year.
The all-conquering Mighty Fighting Fourths (above): The scoreboard tells the story. L-R: Back -
Dean Lawson, Steve Herbert, Peter Wright, Darren Nagle, Brett Curran, Norm Wright, Kevin
Gardiner, Liam Curran and Glenn Perussich. Front - Steven Ball, Paul Hobbs and John Talone.
And on hand from the 2008 record-breaking team were Norm Wright, who was 12th man against Craigieburn so that son Peter could get a game in, and Tony Sherer and Mark Madden. That proves this team sticks together!
The hapless Craigieburn was rolled in 16 overs, with Steve Herbert, Peter Wright, Kevin Gardiner and Liam Curran each taking two wickets. Then Dean Lawson - who made 157 in the Buckley Park record - and Glenn Perussich knocked off 31 runs in four overs to wrap up the match before the first drinks break.
The previous lowest-ever score was the 34 which West Essendon made against our Firsts way back in 1974/75. The previous lowest against our Fourths was 39 by Airport West in 1991/92, when our victorious team included current players Bob Sciacchitano and Joe Ansaldo.
The Fourths' trouncing of Craigieburn at the weekend was in contrast to some of our other games, with the Firsts moving into the Top Four courtesy of a nailbiting 6-run win over Werribee Centrals, and a magnificent Derby at home on the Sunday. The Thirds finished the Derby with a 16-run first innings win but then lost outright to the Fifths off the second ball of the final over, with Peter Smith taking 6/46.
Moonee Valley  boys strike a pink patch in their match
Moonee Valley Cricket Club was decked out in pink for the February 18/19 weekend, and our players ditched their traditional black and white caps.
But it was all in a good cause - Pink Stumps Day was marked around Australia to highlight breast cancer awareness and to encourage testing and research.
We used pink stumps on the turf ground at Ormond Park for both the Saturday and Sunday games, marked the boundaries with pink cones and had the keepers - Trent Milne on the Saturday and Geoff McKeown on the Sunday - wearing pink pads and gloves. The First Eleven players on the Saturday took to their fielding innings all wearing pink caps.
Coach Vic Hodge was the driving force behind our participation in Pink Stumps Day, and it's expected that we will have raised more than $500 for the cause.
Vic turned up to watch the game wearing a lurid pink cardigan and a pink wide-brimmed hat - and he had no chance of hiding. With his hot pink garb, he could be instantly spotted from any corner of the ground. Well done Vic!
People can still donate to the cause by putting cash in the tin in the clubrooms, or donating direct via our Club through the email address http://pinkstumpsday.gofundraise.com.au/page/VicHodge.
Showing their support (above) are the Firsts, playing against (and beating) Werribee Centrals. L-R: Back - Ihtisham Uddin, Nasir Ahmed, Ian Denny, Steve Nickelson, Jim Polonidis, Matt Thomas, Amit Chaudhary and Shafi Hassan. Front - Craig Pridham, Trent Milne and Mark Gauci.
Our 40th anniversary night takes the
 cake
Some 85 past and present players and supporters attended the 40th anniversary dinner for the Moonee Valley Cricket Club on Saturday, January 28, and a great night was had by all.
 A highlight of the night were speeches both humorous and sincere from past greats Greg Peters, Laurie Mayne and Club founder Ray Storey, and equally compelling presentations by greats who are still pulling on the whites in Darren Nagle, John Talone, Ian Denny and Sandro Capocchi.
Highlights of the night were the cutting of the 40th anniversary cake, designed and donated by past women's captain and current committee member Tien Polonidis, a loop of old and not-so-old photos organised by secretary Peter Golding, and a display of memorabilia curated by Kevin Gardiner.
***For more pictures and reports on the night, click HERE . |
