Premier A Grade – Imperials resuming at 7/169, leading by 32
If Moe were to get something out of this match, they needed to take the remaining 3 wickets quickly, hit up a lead then bowl Imperials out again, all in day two. It started strongly with Royce Colgrave dismissing both overnight bats (Dunstan 4, Mann 23) within the first 19 balls of play with the lead only growing to 41 with one wicket left. Former Lion Aaron Johnstone (28 off 59) frustrated his old side with Scott Aitken (8* off 62) at the other end, the pair adding 82 in 20 overs. Imperials all out for 215, a lead of 78, Colgrave (2/45) & Zomer (2/19) the wicket takers on day two. 63 overs left.
Moe lost Phoenix 8 & Philip 1 early, falling to 2/25. Callum Grant (27) & Benn Zomer (28) steadied the ship well initially, adding 39, but both fell on the eve of the lunch break. Moe 4 down, still trailing by 5 and now looking to avoid an outright against rather than anything for.
Matt Hibbs (30), Noah Kane (22), Anubhav (33), Chris Robinson (29*) & Royce Colgrave (12*) all got starts to avoid outright, hands shook at 7/194, Imperials taking first innings points only. Todd Mann took 5 wickets for the innings to make it 8 in the match.
Moe miss the chance to be top 4 at the break, falling to 5th with Churchill winning to move 4th.
Premier B Grade – Moe v CATS
Moe sent 4th placed CATS in and were on top early. Aiden Savige taking 2 wickets, Brady Cake 1 & Daniel Farmer 1 to have the visitors 4/24. Chase Wilkerson (40) & Jason Motta (23) added 51 for the 5th wicket to steady the ship. The Lions were still bowling well but the pair added 8 boundaries to take advantage of anything slightly off. Once Dylan Freitag dismissed Motta at 5/75 and Wilkerson at 6/94, the resistance ceased, CATS losing the last 5 wickets for 7 runs, all out for 101 in 37.4 overs. Wickets were shared around by an all medium pace line up for the Lions – Savige took 3/8 off 5, Freitag 3/19 (9), Cake 2/18 (5.4), Blunt 1/25 (9) & Farmer 1/26 (9).
Moe’s innings got off to a disastrous start, Mustoe showing off his indoor cricket skills to retrieve the ball for keeping and throw down the stumps before Whitney
could scamper through. In a continuing tale of much of B Grade’s season, the batting struggled with double figures achievable but not much more. Ash Savige (12) & Evan Sheekey (12) both fell to Evan Pass and Blandford & Freitag (both 0) both fell to Brad Foster, a combined collapse of 4/3, Moe in huge trouble at 5/33.
Michael Johnstone (17) added 21 with Ritvik Mahajan before being caught behind, 6/54. Ritvik (9 off 51) & Brady Cake (7 off 33) offered slow but crucial resistance, seeing off Foster (3/16 off 9) & most of Bence’s overs (1/10 off 9). With Pass (2/21) bowled out also, it forced a change in attack. Ritvik fell to Cooper & Cake the next over in Bence’s 8th, both with the score on 71, still needing 31 to win but had 13.3 overs to bat. CATS now in the box seat.
It was steady going but the Lions tail managed to get it done, Troy Oakley (13* off 41) & Daniel Farmer (12* off 28) scoring the 31 needed in 63 balls to take the victory. A required victory for Moe after letting last week slip, whilst CATS will rue this one themselves, extras top scoring with 20, including 14 wides & 3 no balls.
5th to 7th (Boolarra, Toongabbie & Moe) all picked up victories to close up the gap to 6pts (1.5 wins) between 4th & 7th.
Games resume 10th January after the break. Statistics updates will be provided over the break with a few milestones hit these past couple of weeks too.
Traralgon West travelled to Burrage Reserve for the first meeting between the clubs in any grade since 12th December 2023 (C Grade). A & B Grade’s last contests between the sides were in March (A’s SF) & January 2022 respectively with years in differing divisions along with simultaneous opposing promotions & relegations preventing clashes since.
Moe Innings
Moe got off to a flyer in the first 5 over block from the Southwell Avenue end, 0/42. Chris Robinson (28 off 18) fell the first delivery from the club room end. Noah Kane (19) got a start and and added 29 with Benn Zomer (18). Zomer was dismissed the first ball after the halfway mark change of ends. Moe 3/77 with 2 fresh bats at the crease. The second half of the innings saw Moe add 5/50 in an even battle of bat & ball. Hibbs (11), Grant (10), Colgrave (15) all making double figures. A wicket maiden was criminal by the hosts which they hoped wouldn’t come back to bite them. Alfie Peck was the bowler of that over, finishing with 2/20 from 4. Wickets were shared around with Kimpton taking 2/19 & Howe 2/20. Fleming & Cooke took 1 wicket each also for the visitors.
Traralgon West Innings
The Eagles innings never really got going. Wickets fell regularly with 16 runs being the highest partnership and Alfie Peck (18) the only batter to hit multiple boundaries. Ben Fleming (13) was the only other batsman to reach double figures. Traralgon West all out for 78 in the final over of the innings.
It was a great bowling performance for the Lions with wickets shared around. Callum Grant (2/7 off 3), Rob Blunt (2/11 off 4), Benn Zomer (2/11 off 3) & Brady Cake (2/16 off 4) all took multiple wickets and Ritvik Mahajan (1/12 off 2) taking one. Kye Micallef (1/1 off 0.3) bowled the last over of the match and wrapped up proceedings slightly early.
Next Up:
Moe advance to the Semi Finals for the second consecutive year. The Semis will take place on Tuesday January 13 to battle for a spot in the final (Friday January 16).
A poor day in the higher grades, with A’s behind on 1st innings at stumps after Day 1 and B’s losing from a very commanding position. Our 3rd XI entered the Xmas break on a high with two T20 wins in their double header. Full reports below.
Premier A Grade – Imperials v Moe (Day 1)
In an early start due to NBL in the precinct that evening, Imperials won the toss and sent Moe in. The Lions got off to a strong start with Callum Grant (41) & Rob Phoenix (21) putting on a 62 run opening stand before the pair fell in quick succession. Andrew Philip (24) scored practically all of the 26 run stand with Benn Zomer. The Lions were 2/92 before a disastrous collapse of 8/25 including 4 ducks. Zomer’s 20 was the only double figure score in that time. Royce Colgrave (15) & Ben McCarney (5*) added 16 for the last wicket, Moe all out for 133 in just 40 overs. Pilling took 5/21 (8), doing most of the damage in the collapse. Todd Mann bowled all but 2 overs from the Catterick End, taking 3/62.
Imperials chased down 1st innings points quite comfortably, surpassing Moe’s total 4 wickets down with Shuttleworth (42), Thilakarathne (39), Pilling (24), Blake (20) & Morley (18) all getting starts. Cake, Zomer, Grant all have 1 wicket with a run out making up the 4 dismissals before Imps took 1st innings points. Andrew Philip (3/27) took 3 late wickets to have the hosts 7 down at stumps, leading by 36 runs with 3 wickets in hand in their first innings. A big job for Moe next week if they are to reverse outright to take something from this match
Premier B Grade – Moe v Thorpdale
Moe batted first and staggered to 7/117 from their 45 overs. Co-Captains Ash Savige (18 off 57) & Michael Johnstone (16 off 35) top scored for Moe with extras (16), Farmer (12*) & Sheekey (11) the only other double figure scores. It was a sore day for the Lions with Atkinson (calf) & Aiden Savige (groin) retiring hurt. Farmer & Blunt (3*) batted out the overs to leave them in retired ‘not out’ status and not have to attempt to return to the crease. Justin Hecker took 3/14 & Robbie Kerrison 2/20 for the Blues.
Former Lion Kayne O’Connell (0) fell to Farmer in the first over, caught by Evan Sheekey keeping up to the stumps, as he did for most of the day to come. Aiden Savige’s first ball at the other end had Graeme (0) hole out to Semmens at point, score 2/2. The visitors recovered to 2/26 before a collapse of 4/4 had the Blues reeling at 6/30. Blunt with 3/4 from his first 3 overs and Johnstone getting a run out.
From there, Moe should’ve had the game won but cricket offers a lot of variables. Durkin (facing the majority of the deliveries) saw out Blunt’s overs (3/11 off 9), prioritising damage limitation over runs scored, before he & Kerrison started to eat into the total required following bowling changes. Durkin’s 36* took a more cautious approach with only a chance or two offered late once the target was in sight. Kerrison offered a looser hand on his way to an unbeaten 48*, with a few lives offered by dropped catches along the way. Moe were unable to take them and failed to swing momentum back in their favour. The pair did exactly what they needed to and took the points back to Thorpdale, leaving the Lions licking their wounds, losing from a very strong position.
Blunt & Farmer combined for 4/19 off 18 overs (5/19 including the run out during one of Farmer’s overs) in easily the pair’s best performances to date after indifferent starts to the campaign. The loss of Atkinson’s overs really hurt the hosts along with Boswell being a late out, who took 6 wickets last time B’s played a match. But with this sport, there’s no guarantee it would’ve made the difference although Johnstone & Savige would say it’d have been nice to have them available to try.
An 8 point result as what could’ve been a 2pt margin behind 4th turns into 10, making the last match before Christmas against CATS a highly crucial one in shaping whether the season will be playing for finals or to avoid relegation.
Premier C Grade – T20 Double Header
C Grade entered the Christmas break with T20 action. 4 teams converged on Joe Tabuteau Reserve with Rawson & Moe each playing Morwell & Mirboo North, Moe on the turf & Rawson on the synthetic.
Racecourse 1, Game 1: Moe’s first match was against Mirboo North. Moe only lost 3 wickets on the way to 103 from 20 overs at just over 5 an over. Shannon Murphy (30) top scored before being ran out and Braden Finn (14) also got a start before dismissal. Paul Cake (23*) & David Biggins (14*) put on an unbeaten 34 run stand before innings close. Burke, one of 4 Vanderzalm’s in the Tigers line up took 1 wicket, as did Dave Calder.
Gene Vanderzalm (40*) was Mirboo North’s main resistance with the bat. Entering at 2/18, which became 5/25. Corbin (14) put on 31 with Gene before wickets quickly fell again, losing 4/13 again to be 9/69. Hutton (9*) & Gene added an unbeaten 20 as Mirboo closed on 9/89 from their 20, Moe prevailing by 14 runs. Paul Cake took 4/14 off 4 overs, with Frank Manduci 2/21 (4) & Craig Veenman 1/20 (4) also claiming scalps.
Racecourse 2 – Game 1 – Rawson 1/87 (16.3) easily accounted for Morwell 9/80
Racecourse 1 – Game 2 – Morwell batted first, with Wynne (14) & Cook (21) putting on 33 for the first wicket, which built to 2/60 but had used up most of their innings allotment. A loss of 5/8 in the closing stages at Morwell closing with just 68 runs on the board (for 7 wickets) from the full 20 overs. Craig Veenman took 3/13 (3) including wicket #300 for Moe (Congratulations Veeno!). Paul Cake took 2/11 off 4 and Frank Manduci 1/6 (2). Tyler Duff (1/2) was the only addition for Moe to the wicket column in game 2.
Finn & Biggins fell for ducks, with Murphy (14) getting another start. Paul Cake (20*) batted the innings through with Craig Veenman (27*) as Moe chased down the total easily with 5 overs to spare. Carstein took 2/9 (4) for Morwell
Racecourse 2 – Game 2 – Rawson 10/52 (16.3) lost to Mirboo North 10/56 (20) in a thriller. Another Mirboo low total suggested another loss was impending, given Rawson’s comfortable chase earlier but the Kookaburra’s collapsed dramatically to 9/29. Wilkie (12*) & Young (8) added 23 for the last wicket to get Rawson within 5 runs of victory with plenty of time left but Young was caught for Mirboo to prevail.
Paul Cake had a standout day with 6/25 (8) & 43* unbeaten across both matches for Moe. Darren Wilkie had a similarly strong day with 6/11 off 8 across both T20’s for Rawson on Oval #2
Moe enter the Christmas break just outside the Top 4 in Prem C.
Tuesday sees our seniors host Traralgon West in a T20 Quarter Final.
Thursday it’s our cubs turn with the two Moe’s U10’s teams facing each other
Monday, our U12’s are home at the Racecourse.
Friday our U16’s continue their contest with Mirboo North
Saturday – B Grade hosts CATS in a critical clash before the Xmas Break.
Moe went undefeated in the 3-game group stage tonight (9/12) defeating Morwell.
Morwell recovered from 5/57 to post 6/112 in their 20 overs. Benn Zomer took 3/18, Callum Grant 2/13 & Dylan Freitag 1/24 all from 4 overs. Dixon 23, Gettings 22* & Clymo 17 got starts for the Tigers.
Moe got off to a flying start with the bat, posting 42 without loss from the first 4 overs, to take the required rate to under 4.5 with 16 overs left (Robinson 26). The Lions lost 2/2 to be 2/45 then again a loss of 3/1 reduced Moe to 5/64. The main run scorers last week, Grant & Kane both were dismissed for golden ducks this week to keep ‘Fines Master’ Frank happy
In a similar recovery to the Tigers innings earlier, Moe lost one more wicket, surpassing the total required with 7 balls to spare. Anubhav 21* & Royce Colgrave 21* saw the Lions home. Whelpdale & Dixon took 2 wickets each for Morwell.
Moe advance to a home quarter final next Tuesday, opponent TBC. Despite the loss and Raiders beating Mirboo North, Morwell’s NRR sees them finish 2nd in the group to progress.
Quarter Final fixture later confirmed – vs Traralgon West at Burrage Reserve, Tues 16/12
29/11 – All CLV Senior Matches Abandoned
6/12 – Matches subject to each ground’s playability.
A Grade v Morwell – Day 1 abandoned, to be played as a One Day Match on 6/12, also abandoned.
B Grade abandoned both weeks, away matches vs Boolarra & Glengarry
C Grade– Abandoned v Glengarry (Away), played on Synthetic 6/12 v Toongabbie
With C Grade on synthetic, a match was able to be played away to the Rams. The hosts recovered from 6/70 to post 125. Farley (45) & Andjelkovic (30) top scored. Biggins took 4 wickets & Duff 3 for Moe. A roller coaster of a chase, Moe in the commanding position at 3/78, before losing 4/1 to be in big trouble at 7/79. Biggins (28 off 14) & Burridge (15) added 32 to turn the tide but another couple of quick wickets saw Moe 9/116, still needing 10. Biggins & Addison got Moe level but a direct hit from Briscoe in the field ended Biggins’ innings and the match as a tie, 125 apiece.
CLV T20 Competition – Moe def Mirboo North
Tuesday night saw Moe go 2 from 2 in the group stage of the T20 competition, which means securing a quarter final berth.
Mirboo North batted first with Linc Chila (18 off 40) & Frankie Ingram (32 off 39), seeing the Tigers through to 1/55 at the 11 over mark. The hosts stayed steady for the whole innings at that run rate of 5, finishing 5/101 from 20 overs. Dylan Freitag took his first (2) wickets for Moe with Royce Colgrave also picking up 2 and Craig Boswell 1. The 26 extras was the main blemish for the Lions, 19wd.
Moe’s chase was quite comfortable for the most part, Callum Grant & Noah Kane adding 64, Grant falling at 2/92 early in the 15th over, needing just 10 runs off 28 balls. 1/3 off the 15th, a wicket maiden in the 16th, including Rob Colgrave dismissing brother Royce, and 1 run off the 17th, took it down to 6 still needed off 18 balls. The 18th over saw 3 singles including Freitag’s only run (1* off 12), and 2 dots to start the 19th closed it up to 3 off 10 balls. Kane got a double and a single off the next 2 to finish it with 8 balls to spare. Kane struck 47* off 45 balls. Colgrave, Calafiore & Fairbairn took 1 wicket each for Mirboo.
Moe are now qualified for the quarter finals, with next week’s match against Morwell to be played for top spot of the group and a home quarter final (Moe need a draw or win for top spot). Morwell can finish top with a win, a loss would have them relying on staying above Raiders on net run rate if Raiders beat Mirboo North in the final group game. Morwell won by 10 wickets over Mirboo in matchday 1 so have a strong NRR to start with.
Matchday 3 – Tues 9th December
vs Morwell @ Keegan St, 5.30pm.
A Grade defeated Students in two day format for the first time. Noah Kane 49, Benn Zomer 33 & Rob Phoenix 30 contributed to Moe’s first innings win. The Lions were 4/160 but lost 6/17 to only lead by 7 after 1st innings. The Sharks whacked a quick 8d/150 off just 24 overs leaving Moe to chase 144 for an outright win. The Lions never tried to attack the total, settling for first innings points with hands shook at 2/59 after 28 of the remaining 34 overs in the day.
B Grade hit their biggest score of the year, posting 7/216 from 45 overs with Evan Sheekey hitting his first career ton (107 off 99, including 17 fours). Craig Boswell took an outstanding 6/30 as the Lions bowled out Churchill for 100 off just 25 overs. Aiden Savige was strong in support with another 3/24 after 4 wickets the week before.
C Grade’s result was the opposite. The Cobras posted in excess off 200 with Travis Brighton’s 97* off just 60 balls dominating proceedings late. Forbes hit an overshadowed half century also for Churchill. Biggins & Boothman took 2 wickets each for Moe. In the reply, the Lions fell well short with 103. Manduci top scoring with 35*. Brighton taking 3/7 for the hosts.
T20 Results – Moe 5/149 (20) def Raiders 6/126 (20)
Moe Cricket Club put on a beauty today. Awesome turnout, juniors & parents hanging back after Blasters for a BBQ, plenty of spectators & great contest full of action. Big sixers, great bowling and plenty of laughs. Appreciate the Raiders making it a ripper day of cricket
A shout out to Andrew Philip, who top-scored with a classy 69 all after Simmo gave him a pre-game sledge asking why he was even here, considering “T20 is a young man’s game!” Safe to say Andrew had the perfect response out in the middle & Simmo (not for the first time) had egg on face.
When I updated our records and Frank saw he was on 236 wickets, he decided to come out of mostly-retired status (still was filling in on occasion when the club was desperate) and played most of the 2024/25 campaign. When the season ended, he was on 246…..so Frank’s gone around again for 2025/26.
On Saturday (15 Nov), he picked up the 4 wickets needed to reach 250 as part of C Grade’s win over Centrals. Congratulations Franky!
Will he be on enough by season’s end to entice into not retiring again and chasing down 300?
Copyright © 2022 | Moe Cricket Club
Built by
