The passing of Valley great Kevin Gardiner

We are sad to advise the passing of Moonee Valley Cricket Club Life Member and inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Gardiner.
Kevin, 66, had been ill for some time and passed away on the morning of July 9. Kevin and Virginia have three sons Terry, John and Leo. All played junior cricket at Moonee Valley and each had a taste of senior cricket with our club.
Juniors were Kevin's passion and he served seven years as our Junior Co-ordinator and another six years on the general committee, finishing up in 2018/19.
At right: Kevin Gardiner and wife Virginia at the 2026 Hall of Fame presentation, with son Terry.
He then coached our Under 10s for multiple seasons and had further junior involvement running our Milo Have A Go/Blast programs.
A two-time Premiership player, Kevin was presented our Lindsay Jones Best Clubman award in 2006/07.
He won seven bowling awards in his 233-game career spanning 1975 to 2025, scoring 1190 runs and taking 269 wickets.
But Kevin's profound contribution to the Moonee Valley Cricket Club over six decades goes well past his onfield exploits.
He was willing to take on any task that needed doing, and in more recent years took on the role of ordering, collecting and distributing the match balls for every senior and junior team.
Kevin was universally admired and respected by players of all grades at our club, as well as juniors and their parents for his genuine interest and involvement in everyone and everything.
He always had a good word for anyone who pulled on a Moonee Valley cap and enjoyed mixing socially with them.
Kevin was one of our four inaugural inductees to the Moonee Valley Hall of Fame along with Darren Nagle, Ian Denny and Mark Gauci, and revelled in the function where they were presented with their plaques at a gala event in the Ormond Park pavilion on February 7 this year.
Each of the inductees was interviewed in a Q&A on the stage by a significant fellow member of the club who impacted their career - Kevin by Bill Nagel.
Kevin's cricket career began when he followed his older brother Peter down to Moonee Valley - the late PG is also a Life Member of our club.
Kevin, you have made a profound impact on the Moonee Valley Cricket Club, and we mourn your passing.
****Kevin's funeral will be held at St Brendan's Catholic Church, 103 Wellington St. Flemington at 10.30am on Friday July 24, followed by the burial at Fawkner Memorial Park at 12.30. People can post a message or a tribute to Kevin at https://tobinbrothers.com.au/tribute/kevinjoseph-gardiner-2605270/