Valley moves into mid-week cricket

Geoff McKeown effects a smart stumping off Arosha Perera's bowling, while captain Rex Bennett watches on.


In another first in 2005/06, Moonee Valley entered a team into a mid-week one-day turf competition.

While Moonee Valley players in past seasons have played in the mid-week comp under the banner of other clubs, this was a first for us – our own team playing in our colors.

Captained and run by our former coach Rex Bennett, now Premier Club North Melbourne coach, the Wednesday team comprises regular Valley players plus some of Big Rex’s ‘ring-ins’ – mainly players from North Melbourne and other Premier clubs.

With the Ormond Park wickets expertly prepared by curator Ian ‘Spider’ Beel, our first match was a home game on November 2, against the Northerners.

Rex and a couple of Moonee Valley’s reps had previously played with Northerners, based at Aberfeldie Park, but we were happier having our own team.

But the Northerners probably weren’t as happy – Moonee Valley soundly beat them with only three wickets down.

The comp has given some valuable turf experience to some of our younger up-and-coming players and to some of the MMVCA regulars, so it’s a benefit to their development as well as being another notch in the belt for the Moonee Valley Cricket Club.

Moonee Valley Cricket Club’s first-ever mid-week one-day turf comp side (above). L-R: Back – Arosha Perera, Peter Herrick, captain Rex Bennett, Matt Gauci, Evan Gulbis, Mark Gauci. Front – Michael Cumbo, Geoff McKeown, Glen Courts.

13/1/06