2013 marks the 50^th Year of Service by Mike Walsh, at the Essendon CC.

To mark the occasion, ECC has arranged a ‘Toast & Roast’ Night on Saturday 23^rd February, 2013.

The night promises to be very enjoyable, with dinner and speakers from Mike’s 5 decades of cricket service.

All Players, Coaches & Committee Members are required to attend to demonstrate the club’s gratitude for Mike’s wonderful contribution.

Everyone is also encouraged to invite past players and friends of the club to help make it an even more enjoyable evening.

Attached is a flyer with all the information regarding the night.

Please respond to the RSVP contacts to confirm your attendance.

Regards,

Simon.

Simon Tobin

President – Essendon Cricket Club

MKW Roast Night

I trust everyone enjoyed a relaxed Christmas break and it hasn’t been too hard to get back into work mode! Hope to see as many of you as possible at Windy Hill this weekend for the first day of the two-dayer against Carlton, playing for the Paul Hibbert Cup. Paul was a great player for Essendon as well as Carlton, and a very fine batting coach for the Bombers as well.  Paul played more than 70 first class matches for Victoria and one Test for Australia – his trademark was watchful, meticulous batting.  We all mourn his loss, and treasure the memory of his leadership.

On-Field Update:

The Bombers have started 2013 well, with 3 wins out of 4 against North Melbourne, in the first round back from the Christmas break at the weekend.

The First XI recorded an exciting win against NM, with Ben MacRae opening and carrying his bat through the innings, to score 100 not out, and bring up a win for the Bombers.

Rory Collins also continued his strong scoring season for the bombers, with a valuable 68.

The Seconds also added a win, largely thanks to a fine contribution from Karl Mayne with 57 runs. New recruit, Matt Adams, took 3/33 and Steve Buhagiar also snared 3/41.

The Third XI went down in a close one, with all-rounder Jed Kanagasabapathy taking 3/35.

The 4^ths also continued their recent good form by beating North Melbourne at Cross Keys. James Ford top scored with 97 not out, in a total of 5/285. Over 450 runs were scored on the day at Cross Keys which is testament to the curators and staff devoting much work this year at the ground, under the instruction of John Shannon.

At this stage of the season, the club has won 16 matches in the first 15 rounds. This puts us ahead of last year’s results, for the corresponding period.

Last season the club won a total of 21 matches across a season comprising of 16 rounds plus a further 4 rounds of T20 matches (20 rounds in total).

This season, the T20 matches have been incorporated into the season proper, comprising of 19 rounds.

With a potential of 16 further wins available, the Bombers are hell-bent on passing last year’s figure of 21 wins.

Importantly, the Third and Fourth XI teams are both vying for finals appearances, with the 3rds currently in the ‘Final 8’ and the 4ths just outside, but coming home with a ‘wet sail’, having won 4 of their last 5 matches.

A full review of the season’s performances will be completed at season end, but the improvement across the club’s results over the past 5 rounds in particular, is testament of the efforts of all players and coaches. The work ethic of all players has not wavered from the start of the pre-season campaign.

Social Notes:

Please the following important dates in your diaries.

Saturday 16^th February. Super Raffle Draw, at the clubrooms.

Mike Walsh Tribute Roast.

Saturday 23^rd February, at Clubrooms.

The Essendon CC is very lucky to be able to boast many great volunteers who have provided years of service to the club.

As has been noted in previous reports, this year marks the 50^th Year of Service provided to the club by Mike Walsh.

In recognition of his wonderful service, the club is hosting a ‘Roast’ for Mike on the 23^rd February.

The night will be a fun night with many guest speakers from the decades over which Mike has been at Essendon.

The night will include dinner as well as the speakers.

It is to be held on the evening of day 2 of our First XI home game against Hawthorn / Monash University, so in particular, all past players and supporters are invited to attend the match beforehand, watch the Bombers chase victory and then enjoy the evening in great company of many former and current club mates.

Please put it in your diaries and look for further advice regarding tickets etc., over the next week or so.

Club Roles / Jobs:

Administration Manager:

Wayne ‘Horse’ Condon has advised the club he is unable to continue with his Admin Manager’s role, due to work and family commitments. Horse is a very popular man around the club and we all acknowledge his efforts over the past two years. He will remain vitally interested in the club’s fortunes. He will continue in the role until such time as we have been able to arrange a replacement.

We have started looking for a suitable replacement and invite anyone associated with the club who may have an interest in the role to make contact. There is a small payment available for the role.

First XI Team Manager:

The role of the First XI Team Manager also needs filling for the balance of the season, and again for next season. The role is a valuable and important one, and is afforded much respect by the players and officials alike. Any interested parties must be able to commit to a full day on Saturdays (and up to 4 Sundays) during each cricket season. A small payment is also available for this role.

Notwithstanding the time commitments required for each of these roles, the rewards and enjoyment that comes with working with dedicated and talented young sportsmen is terrific and very satisfying. I can only urge anyone who has any interest in either of these important roles to contact us to discuss the specifics of the duties in more detail.

We have 4 rounds to go and all at the club remain dedicated to closing out the season as successfully as we can, with particular hopes for finals appearances from the 3^rd and 4^th XI.

Regards,

Simon.

Simon Tobin

President

Essendon Cricket Club

0417 563552

Rory Collins on an excellent 68 and a good knock from Slevison, who hit the winning runs in style at the end of the game, were also instrumental in the victory, to which the whole team contributed.

Victories also went to the Seconds and Fourths (J.Ford 97), with the Thirds unlucky not to take a win as well.

Find more photos on the Essendon Cricket Club Facebook page

Full results of game:  http://mycricket.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/clubresults.aspx?entityid=205&id=CLR

It’s been a hectic first half of the season, with a lot going on at Essendon CC over the past months.

The pre-season campaign was acknowledged by those senior players who have enjoyed (endured?) many pre-season training years, as possibly the best and most intensive for many, many years.

New recruits joined the list and the number of players reporting for training was higher than has been seen for many years.

The new recruits included a number of players who would be pressing for senior selection, as well as a pleasing number of younger players who would be dedicated to working their way up through the lower XIs.

Despite such a positive pre-season campaign, the results in the first 6 weeks of the season did not match the level of hard work and enthusiasm shown by the club.

Fortunately, the poor start to the season has been arrested with the Senior XI winning the last two matches against Casey- South Melbourne and Northcote, in the T20 competition.  Multiple winning performances from the Third and Fourth XIs have also now been recorded over recent weeks.

Individually, there have been several strong individual efforts over the last two weeks.  James Dickinson’s recent 101 not out against Prahran, in the seconds, some solid performance with the bat by Solomon Mire, Rory Collins, Ben McRae and Shane McNamara in First XI.

The Essendon attack is very strong and good performances have been recorded by Louis Cameron, Dan Slevison and Luke Andree.

Leading all of the players from the front has been Steven Reid, who assumed the Captaincy role mid-way through November, and has been inspirational in his approach.   In the last two matches, 17 year old Nish Pereira has also made his debut for the Senior XI and has acquitted himself very well.

Another wonderful day for the club was the First Class debut of Louis Cameron, representing Victoria against NSW at the SCG in his first Shield Game.  Louis has been on the fringe of State selection for some time and it is wonderful to see Louis taking his career to yet another level.  He represents the club extremely well, and we are all happy and proud to be able to include him in our ranks.

Clint McKay continues to represent both Victoria and the Melbourne Stars very well, as a senior professional cricketer.  More importantly, Clint has been attending all training and matches at Essendon to support the club over recent months, as well as continuing to play with the Senior XI, whenever his duties allow.

We look forward to seeing him continue to represent Australia this summer.

Prior to the Essendon Vs Casey SM T20 match last week, the club enjoyed the opportunity to host the Melbourne Renegades in a practice match early in December.  The match against the ACT Comets featured some big names including Aaron Finch and the Test wicket record holder, Murali. The Renegades enjoyed the opportunity to play at Windy Hill and we will look to repeat the match next year.

A special reminder to all members and supporters is made of the Club’s Christmas breakup on the 15^th December, at Windy Hill.

In a break from tradition, the club is set to enjoy a ‘Sri Lankan’ theme for the evening.  We are lucky to boast several players with a strong Sri Lankan background at the club, and active parent, Mario Pereira, has generously taken on the responsibility of arranging the night.

The evening starts at 7pm and all members and supporters are welcome.

It is also important to note the departure of Ben Fletcher from the club, after 16 years of valuable service.  Ben has decided to leave the club and play at Melbourne University.  It would be dishonest to pretend anything other than disagreement between several senior club figures, including Ben, has led to his departure.

Ben has however, taken the time to contact me over the past two weeks and has stressed of his desire to leave without any ill-feeling towards the club, where he has spent so much time.  He is taking a positive approach to the future opportunities he has in front of him and we wish him very well for the future.

I hope all within the Essendon family enjoy a wonderful Christmas holiday period.

It is a great time to reflect on the year past, and that forthcoming.

I hope all at the club arrive back safe and sound after the break, and we all enjoy a continued positive second half of the season, as we have enjoyed over the last two weeks.

I wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas.

Regards,

Simon.

Simon Tobin

President

Essendon Cricket Club

0417 563 552

www.essendoncc.com.au

1^st XI:

Batting Average: Ben Fletcher

Bowling Average: Louis Cameron

Team Champion: Ben Howell

2^nd XI:

Batting: John Patton

Bowling: Stephen Buhagiar

Team Champion: Tom Godsell

3^rd XI:

Batting: Brad Joass

Bowling: David Tate

Team Champion: David Tate

4^th XI:

Batting: Jack Howard

Bowling: Tristan Plunkett

Team Champion: Jack Rhodes

Harry Nunn Award (for the Best Clubperson): Charlie Buhagiar

Ian Monks Award (for the Most Promising Junior Cricketer): Corey Altis

Mick Mitchell Award (for the player who receives the most post-game votes across all XIs*): Louis Cameron

Team of the Year:

Ben MacRae

Ben Howell

Zaheer Hussain

Ben Fletcher

Tom Godsell

John Patton

James Dimattina

Mitch Johnstone

Steve Reid

Tom Batters

Louis Cameron

*Players across all 4 XIs give 2 votes to the best player in their game, and 1 vote for the next best player. The captain of each XI has 5 votes to allocate.

Brendan, a Premier Cricket great with 7,500 runs for Fitzroy and veteran of two Premiership sides having captained one, said he is looking for the right attitude among the players, and it will be “a clean slate for everyone”.

“In the first few months we will focus on fitness and fielding, and in August we will do more batting and bowling training. In September we will be looking for practice games. By starting a bit earlier we will get ourselves into a more competitive position – having an edge on fitness and good fielding will be an advantage early in the year,” the new coach said.

Brendan said he was positive about what could be achieved, even though the Bombers had a disappointing ending to the year, coming 13th out of the 18 Premier Cricket teams. The story of the year for the First XI seemed to be that the team could get itself into a winning position but then failed to carry through.

Brendan said he is positive about what can be achieved in what is a pretty young side, across all teams.

Selected in the Premier Team of the Season in 2000/01 and 2001/02, Brendan played in the Fitzroy Lions’ 1993/94 and 2001/02 premiership teams. He played a total of 220 games for the club. His finest season was 1995/96 when his 915 runs @ 76.25 earned him the Jack Ryder Medal.

Brendan returned to Premier Cricket last year, as an assistant coach at Carlton, helping them to the minor premiership title.

Click here to see Brendan Joyce’s full Premier Cricket statistics