Brock solid effort

Any day or night you're down at Ormond Park, chances are you'll catch sight of Paul Brock.
He's got three up-and-coming young stars playing for Moonee Valley this season, and Paul is certainly an involved parent - and not just for the sake of his own three.
He stepped up his role in helping run our juniors during junior co-ordinator Kevin Gardiner's recent illness, and hasn't backed off at any stage of the season.
Moonee Valley is certainly lucky that we lured the Brocks across from Doutta Stars at the start of the 2013/14 season.
Oldest son Luke is a quick bowler with our Under 16s, and has also taken good bags of wickets with our turf senior sides - the Thirds and the Fifths. He's also playing representative cricket, with Brunswick Hatch.
Son Corey is a mainstay of our Under 14s, and is playing Under 12 representative cricket for the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association.
Daughter Olivia is also in our Under 14s, plays senior women's cricket for Brunswick and is in the Under 16 rep team.
Moonee Valley is also fortunate to be able to call on Paul's experience and dedication as a member of the NWMCA Junior Committee - along with our President Charlie Walker - with a strong focus on representative cricket.
With his watchful eye over the talent at Moonee Valley, it's probably no coincidence that a strong contingent of our juniors are making their mark in representative teams this season.
Above right: The Brock cricketers: L-R Olivia, Luke, Paul and Corey.
On one recent weekend Paul watched around 300 overs of cricket - both with Moonee Valley and representative matches. That's dedication for you - and dedication we're fortunate to have in our Club.
And that's not all! Paul was lured by Steven Ball to play a couple of one-day games for Moonee Valley in 2005/06 - and since bringing his family across to the Valley this season has pulled on the whites a couple more times when needed to round out a team.
Thanks Paul for your terrific work for our Club. 

Where there's smoke,
there's ire

Moonee Valley Cricket Club committee member and Second Eleven captain Jacob de Niese is firm in the need to enforce the ban on smoking in our Ormond Park clubrooms.
Jacob helped fix a large "no smoking" sign to the door of the visitor changerooms, after evidence was found recently of tobacco use.
We reported the transgression to Moonee Valley Council - which bans smoking in all Council pavilions - and requested the sign as a reminder to visiting players.
The Council was appreciative that our Club takes its responsibility in this area seriously.

Enforcing our smoking ban in our clubrooms: L-R Daniel Comande, Jacob de Niese and Mitchell Evans. 

300 great reasons to celebrate Ian Denny's career

Stars of the past and stars of the future were on hand when Ian Denny played his 300th game for Moonee Valley on December 1. Fittingly, he was at home at his beloved Ormond Park when he brought up the milestone.
Sharing the field with Egbert in our Fifth Eleven were guys he'd shared Premiership glory with - Mick Harvey, and other such as Mark Gauci who'd played many a First Eleven game with him.
Watching from the sidelines (out injured) were other Premiership teammates in Darren Nagle, Sandro Capocchi and Warwick Nolan.
And his on-field teammates included young guns who are sure to be Valley stars in  years to come - Matthew Wenlock, Luke Brock and Jonathan Lee.
With our move of our two lower-grade turf teams to Mercantile Cricket Association this season, Egbert has encountered some new challenges - including playing against teams we've never met in our Club's 40-year history.
December 1 was no different, with Maccabi Ajax coming across town to do battle at Ormond Park.
And fittingly, we came away with a win to celebrate the Great Man's milestone. Moonee Valley made 9/240cc off our 45 overs, while Maccabi Ajax threw in the towel after 34 overs and finished at 6/101. Ian made a sparkling 37 and took 1/9 off six accurate overs.
The team which shared the moment with Egbert was John Talone, Mark Gauci, Trent Milne, Jono Lee, James Holt, Lou Raffaele, Matthew Wenlock, Mick Harvey, Luke Brock and Steve Herbert.
Ian is only the second Moonee Valley player to reach the 300-game milestone, behind Darren "Spud" Nagle.
The welcoming crowd included Life Members Ian Sutherland, Bob Sciacchitano, Joe Ansaldo and Jim Polonidis, and other notables included Phill King, Vice President Simon Thornton, Jodie Talone and young stars of the future Luke and Max.
And Ian's sons Jason and Luke were there - and we haven't given up yet on poaching them from Taylors Lakes. They'll join their dad in the black and white of the Moonee Valley at some stage in the future for sure.
**For more photos, click HERE.

Tipping winners is hard work, says James

We were all winners at the Moonee Valley Cricket Club's Melbourne Cup function at the Reunion Bar in Ascot Vale.

There was fun, food and frolic, under the watchful eye of MVCC sponsor, host and occasional player Matt Clare.

As James Holt (left) shows, tipping winners is hard work, and you need a rest from it occasionally to refresh.

A small but merry band of players gathered at the Union Rd venue for the day, and we were able to watch the passing hordes on their way to and from Royal Flemington.

We had the last laugh though, with sweeps, mystery bets and all manner of entertainment - including enjoying singer/guitarist Chris Langford's vast repertoire for the afternoon.

For more pictures from the day, click HERE.

    Club season membership and affiliation payments
We're asking Moonee Valley members to finalise paying their season membership and affiliation fees, to give the club some ongoing money in our account to meet the usual costs such as balls, association affiliation fees and such.
We got a good boost to the account with prompt payment on junior registration day, but need to build on it.
**For details on the fee structure and information on how to pay, go to the "Club News" section on the menu bar at the top of this page

 Main Club contact details:

Charlie Walker - President 0409 237 543; 9370 1802
Peter Golding - Club Secretary 0419 009 721
Simon Thornton - Vice President 0417 570 779

Email: mooneev@club.cricketvictoria.com.au


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

Last updated: December 20, 2013.

For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE