***Call for expressions of interest – turf curator

The Moonee Valley Cricket Club is seeking a curator to prepare our wickets at Ormond Park in Moonee Ponds, following the retirement of our long-term curator.

Ormond Park has a five wicket deck. The club has turf teams which play Saturdays and Sundays. The same strip is used on both days, and is rejuvenated Sunday mornings.

Interested applicants should email their resume and details to Moonee Valley President Charlie Walker at mooneevalleycricket@gmail.com or contact 0411 705 381.

       Valley at the NWMCA awards night 

                            

Above: A happy trio at the NWMCA awards night - L-R James Smith with his batting award, Sarah Fenn with the Premiership pennant and Katherine Baker with her bowling award.

Moonee Valley featured strongly at the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association awards night on April 11.
James Smith won the Clissold Shield batting award for his mammoth 703 runs in our Fifth Eleven, at the stellar average of 140.6. He had previously won a batting award in 2021/22, in our Fourths on turf in Mercantile Cricket Association.
Katherine Baker beat all comers in the bowling in the Women's Division 3, netting eight wickets @ 17.38.
And Katherine then joined captain Sarah Fenn to receive the pennant for winning the Division 3 premiership.
At left: L-R Katherine Baker and Sarah Fenn receive the Premiership flag from NWMCA Women's Committee member Jayde Lee. 
James actually scored 740 runs for the season, but his two games in the Fourths and the over he faced in our washed-out final don't count for the comp awards.
James' aggregate was up with the best in the NWMCA, and his average was better than any of the other men's grades other than a player who scored less than half his runs, but for once out.
The women's premiership was our fourth in five seasons, and the first for Sarah as captain - although she's featured in two others as a player.
And Katherine has also played in three of the flags.
James hit two centuries this season, and has already scored more than 2000 runs in just five seasons at Moonee Valley.

Stars come out for our biggest night of the

year - Presentation at the Pavilion

More than 65 players, family and supporters gathered at the Ormond Park pavilion on March 29 for our biggest event of the year - our 55th annual presentation night.
We got to celebrate Premierships by our Women's team and the Under 16s, and near misses from the Firsts and Thirds. But just as importantly, we got to acknowledge a range of individual efforts and milestones across the course of the season.
Junior Co-ordinator Paul Sevenson was announced as the Lindsay Jones Best Clubperson, for his efforts both off and on the field - the re-set and rebuild of our junior program, his work as captain of the Fourth Eleven introducing young players to turf cricket, and a range of other backroom tasks he performs around the Club.
At right: Our 2024/25 Lindsay Jones Best Clubman Paul Sevenson (right) received his plaque from President Charlie Walker.
Dejan Gilevski was announced as Club Champion as well as winning his second First Eleven bowling award - not bad for a young man who worked his way through our junior program and is still only 19.
James Smith was awarded the Sean O'Kane Award for best player in grades other than the Firsts. His 946 points was largely based on more than 700 runs in the Fifths.
The Club was honored to have official Moonee Valley Legend Ray Storey and his wife Heather down from Leitchville for our big night - as the co-founder of our great club, Ray is always welcome.
At left: Our Club Champion Dejan Gilevski (right) received his award from Firsts captain Jack Newman. 
Thanks also to Brendan "Jonty" Rhodes for his excellent work as Master of Ceremonies for the night - Jonty's multi-media personality shines through on nights such as this, and he certainly does his homework to keep things ticking over with key facts and figures.
Jack Newman, who has captained our First Eleven for the past seven years, announced that he was stepping down from the role and would continue as a player.
The reappointment of Brayden McGregor as our Senior Coach was also announced.
Following suggestions from members we decided to self-cater the night and keep costs under control, and it worked out well for us.
Many thanks to those who gave up a considerable chunk of their night to ensure that the catering ticked over, including Paul Simon, Rebecca Lubansky, Peter Smith, Paul Sevenson and barman Marcus Lee.
***For more photos from Presentation Night and details on trophies, click HERE

OUR SPIDER ROLLS HIS LAST PITCH

Moonee Valley's much-loved and long-standing turf pitch curator, Ian "Spider" Beel has advised he is stepping down at the end of this season.
Spider has been our curator for more than a quarter of a century. He has prepared the pitch for the First Eleven Grand Final this season - and amazingly, when he first started his curating, only two of our Grand Final team were even born!
At left: Our long-standing curator Ian "Spider" Beel rolls the Ormond Park pitch for his last Grand Final.
Club President Charlie Walker paid tribute to Spider's commitment to our club over such a long period, and the support he has given our club since we first moved to turf teams in 1998/99 - first to the Moreland-Moonee Valley Cricket Association, and then to the Victorian Turf Cricket Association four seasons later.
Spider reckons he's had a fair innings as our curator, and stepping aside will enable him to better support his health.
He has also been a great supporter of the Moonee Valley Football Club, so it's no surprise that the cricket/football scoreboard has been named the Ian "Spider" Beel Scoreboard in his honor.

*CRICKET - LOOKING TOWARDS 2025/26 

Moonee Valley Cricket Club is always keen to talk to potential new players, and is already looking towards the 2025/26 summer season.
The Club has reappointed senior coach Brayden McGregor.
Our Club in the last season fielded five senior men's teams - four of which play on turf - and a women's team, as well as juniors across all age groups and a Blast program for the younger players.
Anyone interested in joining Moonee Valley can phone Brayden on 0429 559 797, junior co-ordinator Paul Sevenson on 0407 556 950 or President Charlie Walker on 0411 705 381.

     
Main Club contact details:

* Charlie Walker - President 0411 705 381; 9370 1802
* Allan Cumming - Treasurer 0438 380 990
* Sarah Fenn - Secretary 0438 141 179
* Mark Gauci - Vice President 0457 778 335 
* Paul Sevenson - Junior Co-ordinator - 0407 556 950   

Emails: mooneevalleycricket@gmail.com
        charlie.walker@optusnet.com.au 

For more contacts, see " Office bearers & Officials " under "Club News & Info" at the top of the page

Last updated : April 15, 2025.
For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE