The Sun keeps shining for Moonee Valley

        

The Sun keeps shining for Moonee Valley

                               
Moonee Valley Cricket Club's connection to the old Sun News-Pictorial was extended on February 28, when a fourth hard-bitten journo from the great newsrooms of the 1970s and 80s pulled on the whites.
Benedict Ainsworth answered the call when we were short of players for the Thirds, playing across town at East Bentleigh, and took to the field with Charlie Walker.
Ben followed in the footsteps of Mark Madden and Neil Wilson in pulling on the Valley whites.
Benedict hadn't played a serious game of cricket for nigh on 30 years, when he last turned out for Crib Point. But when we were short of players, and with the game in the southern suburbs, he answered the call from Charlie.
He was active in the field, bowled a couple of overs of tidy off-spin and looked comfortable with the bat before leaving a ball the clipped the off bail.
Two old journos out on the cricket field for Moonee
Valley - Benedict Ainsworth (left) and Charlie Walker.
Benedict, Neil, Mark and Charlie were part of the great newspaper which had the biggest circulation in the southern hemisphere in its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s.
Its last edition of the Sun News-Pictorial was October 6, 1990, when it was merged with the old Herald to form the Herald Sun.
Mark Madden has played 66 games for the Valley, pulling the pin at the start of this season due to some hip problems. Neil Wilson played five games in 2005/06 before a dodgy back caused his retirement.
Benedict thoroughly enjoyed his game representing Moonee Valley, and is already threatening to pull on the whites for us again next season in a game closer to home, when he can regale our players and supporters with a few stories over a couple of beers back at Ormond Park. We're looking forward to it!