The Best of 2010-11 News Stories

Tea Gardens Gift was a great success

For those of you who ventured to Canning St Reserve on Saturday you were provided with a treat. A full day of professional athletics, a great atmosphere and the ground flood lit on a mild summers night.

There was plenty of fun and excitement and the club wholehartedly thanks the kind generosity of the following members for donating their time for your club.

Jenni Brincat (paying the winners), Eddie Brincat (car parking), Suresh Allada (car parking, clean-up and bar), Lisa Dougherty (Bar and Cash collection), Rocco Montesano (Car Parking and Bar), David McHardy (BBQ), Vlad Nikoloski (Event Marshall), Pepe Dimovski (Event Marshall), Matthew Dougherty (Car Park and Marshall), Michael Montesano (Car Park and Marshall), Sue Montesano (Odd jobs including getting dinner), Peter Markham (Bar), Trevor Hawken (Bar), Paul Adami (Media, Car Parking and Cash Control), Chris Dougherty (Finance and Cash).

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Club Welcomes new members to the Committee

The club is glad to announce the appointment of 3 more members to the junior sub-committee.

Val Nikoloski, Carol VanDerBurgt and Jacqui White have agreed to join the committee to help the club continue to grow through its junior program. The roles of the committee are not that onerous but usually appear more difficult than they are due to the lack of people volunteering.

With Matthew Dougherty playing his last season of cricket, Chris and Lisa will take a lesser role with the juniors next season but will still be around to help out. The addition of Val, Carol and Jacqui is a great boost to the club.

In other news Di Cunningham is retiring from the junior treasury at the end of this season and Jenni Brincat has agreed to take on this role for the juniors.

The club is still looking for volunteers for the committee and will make further announcements in the coming weeks.

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Mathew Montesano makes career best 92

Under 16 Mathew Montesano came of age as a senior cricketer yesterday scoring a brilliant 92 for the 2nd XI against St Andrews. Forced to open the batting with his under 16 opening partner Victor Chu, he was the cog of the teams score of 235.

Waiting patiently for the right ball, he started the innings with some nice hooks off the opening bowlers. As the confidence grew so did his array of shots which included cuts, drives and deft pushes for singles as he continued to work through the field placings set by the opposition.

Congratulations Mat.

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Irfan Bhatti takes 8 wickets to bowl 1st XI to victory

In an inspired spell Irfan took 8 wickets to bowl the 1st XI to victory. Needing 8 wickets for less than 92 runs at the start of play - Irfan was quoted as saying "We need to have them 5 for less than 50 to have a chance.

Within the first couple of overs Irfan had taken 2 wickets to have Kingsville Baptists reeling. He continued to bowl an inspired spell quietly demolishing the middle order.

When Birinder took a wicket and Irfan another 3 Kingsville needed 50 runs with 2 wickets in hand.

It was the last 2 wickets that proved to be the most difficult to take. Kingsville threw caution to the wind and got away with some lucky shots. Raheel bought Paul Dowling back to tie up the other end while Irfan continued to bowl.

Brenton Whale took a hard hit catch at short mid-off to give Irfan his 7th wicket. He then took the final wicket with a good catch taken by Raheel Hussain in the deep to give the boys victory by 14 runs. Ben Heppell also took 4 catches behind the stumps to support the bowlers good work.

The 1sts now have 3 wins and are sitting in the top 4. A sign of the maturity in the team is the fact they held on and kept fighting when the match looked to be slipping away.

Brenton and Will Cunningham came out and put the result beyond doubt by scoring another 50 run opening partnership. The middle order need to start taking advantage of these good starts to really put the pressure on the opposition.

Well done guys. Now for top side Laverton today.

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Christmas Party a Huge Success

Thank You to all of our members and their families for attending the 2010 Christmas Party. Over 90 people attended the event and all had a good time. The kids were kept entertained with the Jumping Castle and the visit by Santa, while the adults just sat back and relaxed and enjoyed the food prepared by Glen Graham.

A big thank you must go to all those who contributed to the hamper raffle prizes on the night, and to Richard Phillips, and Paul Adami donating the silent auction prizes on the night.

 

 

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New PB's

 

Trent Lawson and Jacob Cutri both achieved Personal Bests with the ball on the weekend.

Trent took 2/2 including the prized wicket of the West Coburg opener bowled middle stump.

Jacobs personal best of 3/15 nearly stole the game for the under 14s against Pascoe Vale.

Congratulations to these two boys.

 

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Ben Heppell gets Married

 

The club congratulates our coach Ben Heppell on his Marriage to Kate.

The couple tied the not on 4 December 2010 and will honeymoon in Thailand just after Christmas.

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New Messaging System being used

In an attempt to communicate to as many members as possible and to minimise the cost to the club, the coach's and the Committee the club is now using Teamer Text and Email notifications. The system sends messages via text and email and allows members to respond by simply responding Y or N to the text message or by clicking the link in the Email. It enables more efficient notification and allows the club better plan its selections, matches and functions. Please use this system to help the club serve you better.

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Under 12's in B Grade

Congratulations to the Under 12 squad who were ranked in B Grade after being undefeated in the grading matches.

This is the highest grading achieved by any of the junior age groups since the junior program was resurrected 6 years ago.

This is a great achievement and all credit goes to coach Rocco Montesano and the boys for playing good cricket.

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Condolences to the Nikoloski Family

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Vlad Nikoloski's dad on Friday 26 November 2010. Vlad coaches the Under 10's. Junior players Michael and Lucas Nikoloski will miss their grandad.

The clubs thoughts are with all the Nikoloskis at this sad time.

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This weeks 50s (21 November 10)

Congratulations to Raheel Hussain, Michael Nikoloski, Victor Chu and Rohit Allada who all made half centuries this week. All three innings helped secure victory for the respective teams.

Raheels 50 was his second for the season, while Victor and Rohit made their first for the season.

 

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1st XI win by 1 run

The 1st XI had a great fighting win against Flemington by 1 run. The win was set up from the first ball with a stabilising partnership by Will Cunningham and Brenton Whale which was capped off by the classy batting of Irfan Bhatti (29), Raheel Hussain (65) and a cameo from Ben Heppell (18 no).

Paul Dowling and Irfan bowled tightly without luck, but it was Birinder Sandhu who took 4 late wickets to secure the win by the narrowest of margins.

With Sympathy

 

It is with sadness that we mourn the passing of Phil Goodmans mum who passed away after a losing her battle with Cancer on Friday Afternoon (5 November 2010).

While Phil no longer plays for the club, he is still associated with the club through Logan McKay who plays in our under 14 team.

Phil has many friends at the club and the Committee, and all members pass on our condolences to Phil and his family.

Message from the Secretary - Sue Montesano

It has been bought to everybody's attention for quite a while that the club is very short on helpers and a number of jobs that need to be done every week keep falling on the shoulders of just a few.

The club has a very small committee and it shouldn't be just up to them to try and cover all the stuff that is needed to run a club.

So...here is a list that we need players/parents etc to take on and help us run the club on a daily basis.

1. Delegates...Leigh has attended at least a meeting every 10 days as he has 2 associations to attend. He has been very generous with the time he has to taken to do this but we really need a player or parent to attend the MMVCA meetings for us.

2. Afternoon teas...It's not fair to expect Lisa to make the teas for all the teams so we need 3 people (one for each senior team) that is prepared to take on the role. If not, then Ben will tell the players that they will have to be responsible and make the teas themselves.

3. First X1 scorer. We seriously need one. We cannot be fined $50 every time we don't produce a scorer.

4. Help with the Selection night meals. We need help on a regular basis. It would be good to get a team of helpers?

5. Friday night under 10 matches (cooking meals and serving at the bar).

I will leave it at that just for now.

We are seeing success on the field, thanks to the hard work by the committee and coaches but now we need to make sure our committee members are not taking on all the responsibility of the club...this is what players have to understand.

Please call me to volunteer to take on some of these jobs 0425 733 241.

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High Praise for David McHardy

While many people take for granted the time and effort that the coach's and administrators put in to any sport, it is always good for those people to just hear the words thank-you every so often. They mean so much to the volunteers giving up their time.

When those words come from an opposition club, it demonstrates that the club is doing well. Such praise was given to David McHardy and the Under 14s by the Moonee Valley Cricket Club during the week.

Moonee Valley wrote:

"Just a note to thank you once again for agreeing to switch the Rd 2 U14D match from Sat to Sun and also from your own Doyle Res to Fairbairn 1.

Please pass on our thanks to David, the team's coach as well. You went out of your way by some lengths to accommodate our request and I was sorry to hear that a couple of your young fellows had to miss some play due to being unavailable for one of the Sundays.

I thought your team was very well coached and managed and you've allowed the team captain to take on the responsibility and he seems to be reveling in it.

During the discussions that led to the switch it was great to hear repeatedly that the first priority is to get teams on the park. Without your efforts, that would not have been possible.

Congratulations on your approach to cricket and all the best."

 

On behalf of our members and committees who may have forgotten to say thank-you to David - Thank You. The club has always appreciated your effort in coaching the under 12s and under 14s over recent years and the nick name Super Coach is not given lightly.

Well done David and the Under 14s for actively demonstrating the values of our club.

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Alexander Dimovski continues to impress

Alexander Dimovski has taken to his first year of cricket like a duck to water. He continues to impress taking wicket after wicket and he is now scoring runs.

In the match against Strathmore he took 5/5 and made 32 runs.

He has now made 73 runs and taken 11 wickets in 3 matches.

Well done Alex.

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Michael Nikoloski smashes 50 in Under 10s

Michael Nikoloski was the first of the under 10 players to take full advantage of the new Under 10 rules by belting an unbeaten 58 in the match against Strathmore.

Michael who was runner up in last years Shellie Medal is registered to play under 12s but is still eligible to play Under 10s on a fill in basis. He has continued his good form this season.

Michael is looking forward to repeating the effort when the Udner 12 season eventually gets underway. Well done Michael.

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Captain Steers 1st XI to a win with 53 n.o

 

1st XI captain Raheel Hussain made an unbeaten half century to steer the 1st XI to a comfortable victory.

Raheel oozed class throughout his innings and was never really bothered by the bowling.

Raheel was in a 35 run partnership with Irfan Bhatti and 37 with Daniel Mezo before the fitting end of Captain (Raheel) and Coach (Ben Heppell) both not out at the end of the match.

Raheel hit 6 fours and 1 six in his innings.

A great start for Raheel and the team.

Lachy Dowling takes 4 for on debut

 

New recruit Lachlan Dowling took 4 wickets on debut to help steer the 1st XI to victory in the first match of the season.

Bowling in the middle of the innings in a one-dayer, Lachlan took the initiative away from Merlynston Hadfield by taking 4 wickets to have them slump from 3 for 46 to be eventually out for 88.

Lachy ended with the great figures of 6.1-0-4-14.

Brenton Whale assisted all the bowlers by taking 3 catches in the field

Well done Lachy.

2nd XI win thanks to 81 run partnership

 

The second XI were taken away from trouble thanks to an unbeaten 8th wicket partnership between Satinder Gill and Jodhi Bal.

Satinder ended up 70 not out hitting 10 fours and 1 six. Jodhi remained 37 not out hitting 7 fours in the process.

Coming to the crease with the team at 5 for 18, Satinder took control of the bowling attack from the start. When he was joined by Jodhi, the team was 7 for 55.

The partnership was enough as the team won by 12 runs.

Things are Looking Up

With most of the club teams now having played their first games (sorry for the guys in the 3rds who go into round 4 without a ball having been bowled), the club has four of its teams sitting on top of the ladder.

They are:

• 1st XI
• 2nd XI
• Under 16s
• Under 14s

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1st and 2nd XI Win First match

The 1sts and 2nds both had first up wins to top the ladder in North B1 and North B2 respectively.

The wins were both hard fought and a credit to all the players who endured some tough times last season. The 1sts won by 6 wickets with Raheel Hussain being unbeaten on 53. He was well supported by Irfan Bhatti who had a good all-round day taking 3 wickets and making 31. The highlight however was Lachlan Dowlings debut. He took 4 wickets during the middle of the innings to help restrict Merlynston Hadfield to 88.

The 2nd XI were in trouble early but a great unbeaten partnership of 81 between Satinder Gill and Jodhi Bal gave the bowlers something to work with. Satinder finished 70 not out and Jodhi on 37.

Both Jodhi and Satinder took a wicket but it was the Colonel, Richard Phillips who took 4 wickets with Luke Rossito and Sonny Singh both chipping in with 2.

Under 14s unbeaten

 

The under 14s continued their winning ways with a comfortable win against Moonee Valley.

Openers Vikramjit Sandhu and Dejan Pavlovic passed the score without losing a wicket.

Coach David McHardy then retired all the players through the innings to provide all the boys with valuable match practice.

12s in their first game.

 

Due to walkovers and rain the under 12s finally played and won their first match of the season beating Greenvale comfortably.

Joel Versace, Michael Commisso came up from the under 10s to help the boys out and all made an even contribution to the win.

Tristan Laybourne and Neil Hariman were the pick of the of the batsman while Aaron Ciavarella had a good day with the ball.

Club Raffle Rewards

As another intiative to get more people involved in the club, a raffle ticket will be issued to every person who buys any drink from the club. The tickets will be issued for every drink sold at Meal Nights, and after matches on game days.

As an incentive to get players back after away matches - two tickets will be issued to a player who buys a drink if they have come back to the club rooms after playing away.

At the end of each month the club will put on a captains night where the captains tell the members how the various teams have performed over the month.

These nights will also involve junior teams and parents where feedback on the juniors performances will also be given.

During the night a winner will be drawn from the tickets given out during the month with.

Prizes will be a choice of:

• Waiving of Player Match Fees for the next 4 weeks.
• A Club Supporter Shirt or Shorts.

This Thursday will be the first night in which tickets will be issued for the drinks.

Thank You Colonel

Thank you Colonel for paying for the meals and drinks on Thursday night.

The club and the players greatly appreciate your generosity.

The club greatfully acknowledges the Colonel and his business (MSK Furniture) as sponsors of our cricket club. Please support him when looking for furniture.

Round 1 News - Good Start for Junior Teams

The club junior teams started the season off well with all teams winning their opening matches of the season.

The Under 16s comfortably beat Gladstone Park in the first match played on the new Doyle Street wicket.

The Under 14s had a first up win easily accounting for Keilor in their match at Keilor Park.

The Under 12s unfortunately didn't get a match and as such won the game on a walkover.

Finally the under 10's both had wins against Airport West under the new rules.

Birinder Sandhu is appointed as player representative on the Committee

The Senior Committee is glad to announce Birinder Sandhu as the players representative on the current committee.

Birinder has been with the club for over 6 years and the Committee is greatful he has volunteered to represent the playing group and assist in increasing the level of communication around the club.

If any other players would like to get involved in the Committee or the club in general please approach any of the Committee members or Birinder.

The more help we get the easier it is to run your club.

Welcome to New Members

The club warmly welcomes the following new members and their families. We hope you enjoy playing with us and become actively involved in the various activities we will have during the season.

• Brenton Whale (Seniors)
• Paul Dowling (Seniors)
• Lachlan Dowling (Seniors)
• Gurmeet Singh (Seniors)
• Danko Bzenic (Under 16 - returning after 2 years)
• Joe Dowling (Under 14)
• Aydin Sir (Under 14)
• Jayden Bulner (Under 14)
• Chad Sir (Under 12)
• Jordan Cadzow (Under 10)
• Sava Stefanovic (Under 10)
• Alexander Dimovski (Under 10)
• Cassius Bulner (Under 10)

5 Heights Players join VTCA Junior Academy

The VTCA Junior Academy was finally launched today 19 August 2010 with 5 Avondale Heights Players selected to join.

The VTCA Junior Academy is to be for 16-19 year olds, with the focus being on a range of activities to provide valuable experience and coaching to those selected.

It is with great pleasure that and pride that Tom Russell, Michael Montesano, Travis Rodier, Will Cunningham and Tommy Krajina have all been selected.

Cricket Victoria are offering their full backing to the VTCA Academy and the first session for the squad will be at the MCG training facilities.

Congratulations to these boys.

Ben Heppell appointed as Senior Coach

The club is proud that after an extensive search involving 6 applicants to announce Ben Heppell as the senior coach for the club for 2010-11.

Ben played at the club last season and understands the highs and lows that the players experienced during that time.

He comes with a view to making the club competitive in North B with an emphasis on the untapped home grown talent of players that the club has nurtured through its junior program.

He has a desire to make playing cricket fun for the players while at the same time teaching them the finer arts of being a tight competitive cricket team.

Ben will be contacting every senior player over the next few days to talk to them about his plans for the upcoming season.

Congratulations Ben and we wish you every success.

New Junior Committee Member

The club wishes to welcome Jenni Brincat to the Junior Committee.

Jenni is a welcome addition to the committee following the retirement of Leigh Shellie after many years service to the juniors.

Jenni brings with her fresh ideas and has already made some significant contribution with the planning of the season launch and the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle.

The Committee is always open to new members and/or volunteers to help with the odd jobs around the club (especially match days). We welcome Jenni and invite any other parents/players interested in joining the Junior or Senior committee. If interested plaese talk to any of the following club committee members: Paul Adami, Sue Montesano, Rocco Montesano, Di Cunningham, Chris Dougherty, Jenni Brincat, Suresh Allada, or Lisa Dougherty.

1st XI Incentive Scheme Announced

The committee has agreed to introduce a capped incentive scheme for 1st XI players this season subject to the players meeting eligibility criteria.

The scheme is designed to:

• reward and recognise the commitment to our home grown talent,

• encourage each player in the club to aspire to play 1st XI cricket with the club, and

• encoruage and reward performance based on a team goal rather than one individual.

To be eligible for payments under the scheme players must:

• Pay their FULL membership fee prior to the first match of the season.

• Achieve the minimum individual eligibility target (5% of total team champion points), and

• The entire team achieves the team eligibility target (800 points)

Full details will be outlined to all players at a team meeting in September.More details can be provided to those who attend pre-season training.

New Under 10 Coach Announced

The junior committee wishes to announce the appointment of Vlad Nikoloski as the coach for the under 10's this season. Vlad volunteered to take on this role and the committee was only too pleased to accept.

Vlad's sons are Michael Nikoloski (last years runner up in the Shellie Medal) and Lucas Nikoloski. Michael will play under 12's this season and Lucas will play in the Under 10's.

All parents are encouraged to help out and even get involved in coaching.

Vlad completes the appointments for the junior coach's and now joins:

Rocco Montesano - Under 12's
David McHardy - Under 14's
Chris Dougherty - Under 16's.

Club to field 3 turf teams in 2010-11

As part of the continued push by the committee to provide a transition from junior hard wicket cricket to senior turf, the club is happy to announce that it will field a team in the Moreland Moonee Valley Turf Cricket Association this coming season.

This team will be in addition to the two teams afifiliated in the VTCA competition.

This now gives a genuine transition path to develop our senior turf teams from those players graduating from the junior section.

It is still envisaged that the Senior Hard Wicket team will continue this year based on the same concept as last year with a mix of older dads with a mix of under 16's and other seniors playing a mix of 2 day and 1 day cricket.