In lieu of Match Reports this week, here’s a summary of our season so far for each of our senior teams.
Women's T20
This season was a remarkable journey for our women’s team. We started with just two players Rhiannon Jones and Emily White but, through dedication and teamwork, joined forces with Keilor Park, gained five more players and a captain, and built a strong foundation. Despite only playing half of our fixtured games (gotta love Melbourne weather), we made incredible progress, improving in both batting and bowling. We gained more players along the way in Kim Lee, Vaishnavi Ramesh and Holly Luth (who was awarded our teams Sahlberg-Swanson medal in her first ever season with the club). Our hard work paid off as we fought our way to the semi-final, a testament to our growth and resilience. This season has set the stage for even bigger things to come next season.
Firsts Fourth,10 wins 3 losses & 2 draws
Brilliantly led by Hilly, a return to finals action was a must. Our batting at times has been breath taking, albeit the ability to find consistency has proven challenging given the new table at Gillon has presented its own uniqueness.
Our bowling group led by Dan, Lou & Ameya with support from Pottsy, Greg, Ollie & Mossy, have been nothing short of amazing with only 2 teams getting past 200 runs in an innings this year.
Nico behind the stumps has been superb with 29 catches & 3 stumpings leading the way for dismissals for the Division. An outstanding performance that belies his age.
St Bernards this week provides us with an opportunity to progress to the next phase of finals.
Seconds Third, 9 wins 4 losses & 2 draws
Again the ability to find consistency with the bat has been challenging. Along the way though there have been some great individual highlights from John, Shloak, Evan & Dougie.
The bowling group have also been scintillating led by Hallsy, Potsy, Gibbo & The Doctor, with support from Dave Bon, Rahul, Zane, Josh, Shloak.
Tom Baker with 17 catches & 3 stumpings has been a real asset to the team with his sure hands and team first attitude.
The boys are looking to go back to back & with a settled line up I am sure they will give it a shake.
Thirds Second, 10 wins 4 losses & 1 draw
The old hands of Randy & Ecca have steered the thirds along the path to defend their title. Giri & Eric have found some late season form with a couple of scores to bind the batting group together.
Decca has been excellent with the ball being the leading wicket taker for the Division, with Sai also in the top five. Plenty of variety & support from Randy, Rahul, Gareth, Jordy has given the team the impetus to again be in the hunt for premiership success.
Fourths First, 11 wins & 1 loss & 2 draws
B Man & his merry men, just keep getting the job done, finishing 16 points clear at the top of the ladder. B Man has led from the front with nearly 250 runs @ 40, ably supported by MVP Parth with both bat & ball.
Jack Nolte has been a revelation with the ball with 19 wickets @ less than 10 & Parth has provided great support along with Senzy, Aiden Martin, Buttsy.
Again another young keeper has shone through with Anmol Basnet leading the dismissals in the Division & producing over 200 runs, showing we are blessed to have such young & up & coming talent in our ranks.
MCA
Saturday D Seventh, 4 wins
Sahlberg – Swanson Medalist & Captain Tom Martin has been Bradmanesk with over 500 runs @ nearly 50 leading his young team through some excellent performances. With a strong leaning to development, Tom has done a great job in imparting his experiences & knowledge with the team. Michael Rowlands has provided Tom with great support with the bat, along with Pankaj Mohite & Scott Siega.
Young Archie Liddell with 11 wickets & debuting in the final round in the subbies is going to be a force to be reckoned with in coming seasons along with Frank Gallagher.
Saturday C Fourth, 6 wins
Chopper’s team after a slow start to the season got rolling in the latter part winning the final home & away game to lock in a Semi Final appearance, following on from a Grand Final last season. Looking to avenge last year’s loss, Chopper has led from the front with 275 runs, supported by Sid Kumar 270 runs & Emu with almost 200.
HH with 18 wickets has led the attack strongly with support from none other, and one of the hardest workers at the club, our own Bryce Sarah with 14 wickets. Chopper, Faisal & Obi added valuable strike power to the bowling group with 9 wickets each.
Continuing the strong wicketkeeping class of 2024/25, Sid Kumar has been responsible for 17 dismissals behind the sticks, again leading the way in the competition.
Sunday B Seventh, 3 wins
Maninder Singh with 332 runs along with ever reliable Zaine Welsh with bat & ball were shining lights, with the bat.
Gareth, Zane & Sarpreet made significant contributions with the ball.
Sunday D Second, 10 wins
Sam Kline with 619 runs @ 77 was joined late in the season by Tom Varley with 463runs @ 154.33 along with Dean providing the bulk of the runs during the season.
Young spinner and young gun Henry Shippard weaved some magic with 17 wickets with Big Al supporting with 16, and Jacob Harounoff & Senzy with 15 wickets apiece.
It has been brilliant to watch this group grow throughout the season, with a lot of juniors representing the club.
Consistency was difficult to achieve with an ability to put a regular team on the park impacting the performance of our MCA teams.
However, the leadership was first class with Tom, Copper, Ray, Zaine & Dean leading the way, and a lot of our younger players showed great strides in their development.
A highlight of our teams in the MCA is the number of father/son combinations we have had throughout the year, highlighting the clubs welcoming culture & junior development focus. Well done to all.
Finally winning the VSDCA Club Championship has been a highlight of the club’s season so far. It takes a club to win these awards & not just the subbies teams. Without competition for spots, support, friendship, a club first approach, a great highly functioning & supportive committee, and a great supporter group off the field, this is not achievable.
Not to mention a couple of our unsung heroes in Michael Murphy & Craig Glass who without their involvement at training would not be able to function and be as smooth as it is. Their service to the club is rewarded with a Club Championship.
Every part of our club has played a pivotal role in this success.
Much work is still to be done as we venture into finals and it is truly going to take a club to win premierships. Get along to training where you can, to support any of the sides participating over the coming weeks.