News Post 3

Premierships Across the Club cap off a great season at Mount

Our VSDCA 2nd XI Team - our first 2nd XI VSDCA Premiership

Well, it was a pretty dramatic, but ultimately successful end to the season having claimed premierships across our boys, mixed (boys & girls), girls, men’s and women’s programs in another very successful season for the Club.

I’ll start with the drama!

Two weekends ago, there was a major act of vandalism of the electrical infrastructure at Mount Waverley Reserve and the majority of electrical cabling (copper wire) was stolen. This meant there was no power to the pavilion, changerooms, lights, scoreboard and curators shed. And all while we were in the middle of hosting a 2nd XI semi-final, and the 3rd and 4th XI’s were contesting grand finals.

On the day we had a great response from fellow players and Club members helping with spare gear and equipment to help the 2nd XI finish their match, win and progress to a grand final.

Monash Council were also incredibly supportive and mobilised teams throughout the week to re-lay all the cabling and re-connect power ahead of last weekend – allowing us to host the 2nd XI Grand Final without interruption. I can’t overstate how amazing the council were in prioritising this work and getting us back on track.

And the 2nd XI added the final chapter to a dominant season by going on to win the flag. Despite being in some strife at 6/69, the lower order led by Shaan Loganathan (76) and number 11 Patty Schmitt (40*) got us to a competitive 216. With something to defend the bowlers went to work and skittled Melton for 79 on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon at Mount. This was our first ever VSDCA 2nd XI flag – meaning we now have the full set across each grade in this competition. Shaan’s innings plus a wicket with the new ball secured him the player of the match award - a wonderful achievement for our 16 year old star.



Congratulations to first-year skipper Aden Shanahan and the whole team. Our 3rd and 4th XI’s also made it to grand finals, but couldn’t quite get over the line unfortunately. But they both had fantastic seasons. Congratulations to both Harris Shah and Tim Mackay for their leadership.

Overall, we finished 7th in the VSDCA Club Championship (out of 32 Clubs) – our fifth consecutive top 10 finish and very strong measure of the depth of our talent and competitiveness across every grade.

Two weeks earlier our senior women’s team added to their formidable CV since the program re-started five years ago, winning their third flag from four grand final appearances. Having shifted to the Eastern Women’s & Girls Cricket competition (EWGC) this season, the team had a wonderful season, finishing on top of the ladder before two convincing finals victories.

The grand final was emblematic of the season with an even performance with the ball matched by a strong top-order batting display to defeat Clifton Hill. Gabriella Goldman capped a sensational season to win the player of the match with an undefeated 43* and finish the season with 479 runs and an average of near 80. Anannya Mardolkar was not far behind with 451 runs at 50.



Congratulations to Leanne Veli who skippered a young, but very talented team through another successful season.

Our junior program finished the season on a high as well. Of our 25 junior teams, 21 of them play in competitions with finals.

Of those, 14 qualified for semi-finals – an amazing performance across the board. Our under 13 ISEC program had all six teams make finals, which is an incredible effort from everyone involved. Four teams went onto win premierships, including:

• Under 13C Sun Boyce (ISEC, mixed)
• Under 14A Wed Mackay (AGCC, girls)
• Under 15A Fri Viccars (ISEC, mixed)
• Under 15A Sun Roach (ISEC, boys)

This is a repeat of our success from last season and is another great result for everyone involved in our junior program – every player, their families, team managers, coaches and committee members – well done!

With the final matches of the season played I want thank everyone involved in the Club this year, across all of our programs, for their contributions on and off the field. Opening our newly developed facility at Mount Waverley Reserve has started a fantastic new chapter for the Club. We have been able to host matches from every part of our program throughout the season, we hosted the first ever day-night matches under lights in the VSDCA and have already witnessed some great finishes and famous victories. Wonderful new memories.

Thanks,

David Grossman

Club President