The Moonee Valley Cricket Club Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Gauci as our new senior coach.

Mark's appointment was confirmed on May 16, and follows a detailed and impressive presentation on a vision of how he would lead our club forward.

Mark Gauci (right) is a Life Member of our Club, our most recent First Eleven premiership captain and more recently, captain of our Premiership-winning Sixth Eleven team in 2014/15.

Mark is now working on a pre-season training plan, and has pencilled in a program of at least two practice matches.

We offer our best wishes and sincere thanks to Rex Bennett, who coached Moonee Valley for the past two seasons - a period which saw the Valleys win three flags.

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Our highest honors at Presentation Night


Channa DeSilva and Mark Cini were afforded Moonee Valley Cricket Club's highest honors at our Presentation Night on April 18 - Channa won the Lindsay Jones Best Clubman award, and Mark was elevated to Life Membership.

Matt Thomas, who has been at Moonee Valley since Under 12s, won the Club Championship award for the second successive year, and Sean O'Kane's stellar season, which culminated in the Sixths Premiership, netted the Moonee Valley Award.

At left: Badges of honor - Club Champion Matt Thomas (left) and Lindsay Jones Best Clubman Channa DeSilva.

Around 60 players and partners attended the event, at the Moonee Ponds Club.

The Lindsay Jones Award and Life Membership are the two greatest honors which can be bestowed at our Club, and both Mark and Channa are worthy and deserving recipients.

Channa started pre-season late because he wasn't certain with his level of commitment or even if he was going to play, but ended up taking a crucial role in junior development, answering the call when needed in our top grades, and playing a crucial role in the Second Eleven Premiership.

Mark has been a stalwart of our Club for 200 games, and was acknowledged by Fourths captain Allan Cumming as his crucial right-hand man in marshalling the team into the finals this season.

"Junior" was inducted into the Life Membership Club by fellow Life Member Sandro Capocchi, and was joined at the front of the room by the other Life Members in attendance.

At right: New Life Member Mark Cini (far right) with his mentor and fellow Life Member Joe Ansaldo.

He particularly acknowledged Joe Ansaldo for persisting with getting him to come to Moonee Valley and continue playing.

A visibly shocked Channa acknowledged his love of Moonee Valley and his belief in a strong future built on some of the younger players rapidly gaining senior experience.

He was warmly acknowledged by everyone in the room when his honor was announced by Club President Charlie Walker.

Channa and Mark, we salute you!

****Click HERE for more photos and details from Presentation Night.

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OUR WINTER WARRIORS

Moonee Valley is again leading the charge in the winter cricket, with three good wins and a narrow loss to start off the season.

We've built up a strong squad of players under second-year skipper Michael Ozbun, to the extent we're already planning for an expansion the following year.

Our Valley team plays out of Fairbairn Park in Ascot Vale, as Ormond Park is not available due to winter sport requirements.

We've got a mix of regular Valley summer players and others who join us for the winter season - such as Kern Kapoor, a crafty spinner and solid bat who has been a Valley player right from our first season in the Mid Year Cricket Association in 2013.

Here's our Round 1 team: L-R. Back - Ben Thomas, Anthony Cafari, Nate Wolland, Kern Kapoor, Amandeep Singh, Matt Thomas, Michael Ozbun, Jatinder Singh and Mahir Rahman. Front - Gaurav Malhotra and Neil King with Queenie.

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