1991/92 - The Second Coming

The Club's General Committee in Season 1991/92 was led by new President, Peter Worland, Vice President Jeff Roach, Secretary Gordon McLeod and Treasurer Wayne Ross. The Committee had been restructured at the Annual General Meeting, with specific tasks assigned to the various Committeemen. Jeff Roach was Chairman of the Match Committee, which comprised Alan Splatt (Junior Co-ordinator), Brian Chapman (Chairman of Selectors), Bob Hough (Players' Representative) and the Club Coach. Gordon McLeod was Chairman of the Administrative Committee, assisted by Rob Hatherall (Assistant Secretary) and Wayne Ross was Chairman of the Finance Committee which consisted of Roy Watts (Assistant Treasurer) and Peter Watson (Marketing Officer). Prior to the start of the Season, the Club appointed Bob Smith as Bar Manager and a member of the Finance Committee, and it decided to place the Ladies' Committee with that body also. The Ladies' Committee comprised Rhonda Ross, Helen Van Raay, Chris Hough and Ann Harley, with assistance from Chris Worland, Rhonda Smith and Dawn Swan.

The Club's major Sponsor was again SPORTSCO, Karingal, with other Sponsors being Taylor, Splatt and Partners (Alan Splatt), Admiral Bathroom Products (Helen Van Raay), Advance Trophies, Roy Watts' Financial Services, Aiden Graham Quarries and Harry Johnston Motors. Graeme Stanley of Dromana Printing and Stationery donated Membership Cards and Nylex, through Bob Hough donated products for construction works in the Clubrooms.

The first task of the General Committee was to appoint a Coach. This fell to the Match and Administrative Committees to report to the General Committee on the five applicants who responded to the advertisement. The recommendation was that Brian McCue be appointed. Brian had formerly coached Mt Eliza and Heatherhill, both successful Provincial Clubs. As a player, Brian was highly regarded as pretty close to the best spin bowler in the MPCA, and was one of the most astute leaders around. He had been a MPCA Country Week representative for a number of years, was the Association's Registrar and had the highest profile on the Peninsula through his association with the Independant Newspaper and Radio 3RPP. His cricketing achievements were well known, and the General Committee felt that it could not afford to let an opportunity like this to go by. The Club felt that it had been in the wilderness too long (even while in the District Grade it was there to survive) and it needed the leadership which would help take it from Sub-District and beyond. In appointing Brian McCue to the position, the Club began its long-term plans - to take out the Sub-District Premiership, and thus move into the District Grade in 1992/93, winning District in 1992/93 and gaining promotion to the Provincial ranks, and becoming and remaining a force in Provincial from 1993/94 onwards.

As part of these plans, the Club looked at player availability, particularly past performances and Club orientation. It decided to drop one senior team which meant that the Club was to field 7 teams in 1991/92. The Membership Fees were set at $40 (Seniors) - lesser amounts for Apprentices and Students, and the Match Fees were set at $10 ($5 for others). This arrangement proved most successful with payments being made on a "Pay as you Play" basis. During the Season, the Club re-surfaced two of its practice wickets with "Ultimate Turf" and made arrangements with the Council to have the McClelland Drive pitch, the pitch at Kananook (sharing with Frankston RSL), and the Havana Crescent Reserve pitch re-surfaced. These were completed with the Council and the Club sharing (50/50) the cost.

On the playing side, the Club lost the services of Sean Bicknell, Alistair and John Black - 39 games and 58 wickets at 22.64%, Daryl "Nobby" Brown (retired) - 63 games, 1379 runs at 28.14% - Highest Score 104, Daniel Carter - cleared to Langwarrin - Adam Chubb (Chelsea) - 21 games, 530 runs at 25.24% (Highest Score 97), Jason De Lange - cleared to Mt Martha, Darren Dell, Paul Denton - 52 games, 700 runs (Highest Score 111) and 22 wickets, Steve Denton - 50 games, 748 runs (Highest Score 74) and 32 wickets at 18.16%, Chris Duff, Simon Fisher, Wayne Grosvenor, Laurence Hall, Bob Kent (retired) - 134 games, 1321 runs (Highest Score 72) and 210 wickets at 20.72%, Chris and Craig Lineham, Craig "Spit" Marshall (a legend, if only for his nickname), Gerry McDonald - 27 games, 328 runs and 64 wickets at 10.89% - and Player of the Year in 1981/82, Paul McMillan, Ron McWilliams - cleared to Karingal - 109 games, 2092 runs (Highest Score 137) at 24.61% and 100 wickets at 17.38%, Dave "Tex" Phillips (retired) - 142 games, 2793 runs at 19.95% (Highest Score 107) and 118 wickets at 23.65%, Mick Pollard - cleared to Baden Powell - 37 games, 1259 runs (Highest Score 136) at 34.97%, Steve Reynolds - 74 games and 1118 runs (Highest Score 58), Mal Ritchie, Rob Sanders, Geoff Sargant (retired) - 104 games, 1091 runs and 50 wickets at 20.02%, Michael "Mouse" Scott, Gary Simpson, Bob Smith - 75 games, 1585 runs (Highest Score 111), Craig "Butch" Thomas and Jason Zarb. Although still only a Junior player, John Georgiou decided to only play in the Juniors for the Season. John had been placed on the St Kilda Football Club's Final List and was finding that his football committments were beginning to cut into his cricketing times. This was unfortunate for the Club because John had played with the 1sts throughout 1990/91 and had performed magnificently. During that Season John played 7 games (6 with the 1sts) and scored 252 runs at 36.00%. In addition to these players, last Season's Captain/Coach, Kevin Prendergast left the Club to return to Frankston YCW. Kevin had played 24 games with the Club in his two years at Long Island and had taken 65 wickets at an average of 21.94%. Kevin decided that he would like to continue playing cricket at the best level open to him, and tried his luck at his old Club in the District Grade. Kevin left the Club with good wishes - a very popular Clubman.

A number of others tried out at the Club, but with places in the teams at a premium, a number of these moved to other Clubs. During the Season, Shane Oxley - 31 games, 204 runs (Highest Score 61) and 22 wickets at 20.45% and Phil Le Poidiven were cleared to Mt Martha and Sheehan Simmons - 47 games, 1059 runs (Highest Score 89) tried his luck at Delacombe Park.

The Club gained former Mornington Diggers and Seaford Captain/Coach Chris Crofts, Andrew Thorpe, Grant Hateley (Langwarrin), Jim Chubb, Jason Murchie (Seaford), Adam Dennison, Tony Hadfield, Mal Humphrey (Dromana), Joel Fisher, Jarrod Upton, Leigh Evemy and Rod Ferguson. Juniors who graduated to the Seniors in 1991/92 were Tony Smith, Daniel Holden and Paul Roach. In addition, Junior players Steve Meddings, Nathan Ross, Mark Sargant, Kieran Worland, David Splatt and Jamie Ferguson represented the Seniors throughout the Season.
The Club was also fortunate to have a number of players resume their careers back at the Club. Former Captain/Coach Bob Martin came back after a two year lay-off to wicketkeep and open the batting for the 1sts, Graham Vose returned to the fold after a number of Seasons at Karingal and most recently with Col Munro at Tocumwal, "Dusty" Hume decided to honour the Club with his services after a three year lay-off, Tom Lamb was roped in by Roy Watts (with Bob Hough hovering in the background), although for only a few games, Stephen Nennstiel came back after missing the last couple of Seasons, David "Simmo" Simons made a long-awaited appearance as a Senior player - Simmo finished his Junior career five years ago - and John "JD" Denton arrived back in Melbourne after a three year stint in Canberra.

The Committee appointed the Captains prior to the Season, with Brian McCue leading the 1sts, Gordon McLeod the 2nds, Alan Splatt had charge of the 3rds, Gary Buckley was named leader of the 4ths, Roy Watts took over the 5ths, Peter Watson moved up to the 6ths and Bob Hindle became the oldest Long Island Cricket Club captain in its History when he was given the 7ths job. The Selection Committee comprised Brian "Chappie" Chapman, Brian McCue and Dave "Postie" Hastings (Assistant Coach). They were assisted by the Captains. Selection Night became a feature of the Club during the Season, and Cuey was true to his word when he stated before the Season started that the teams would be named by 7.30pm. on Selection Nights.

The Club had an extremely successful Season on the field winning the Gunn & Moore Club Championship, with all 7 teams making the Finals - two of them progressing to the Grand Final - and the 1sts winning the Sub-District Premiership - Step 1 of the Plan being successfully achieved! On four different occasions all seven teams won their matches in the same Round, and at Season's end five teams resided on top of the ladder - in 77 games we had lost only 10.

1st XI
The 1sts began and finished the Season as the best Sub-District team in the competition, winning 10 of the 11 games and its two Finals games. During this Season it topped 300 runs on two occasions and on 3 other occasions it got very close. We were only dismissed four times.
In addition to this, we made the second Round of the KO, but went down to Baden Powell, but only after both teams scored over 280 runs each. Doug Van Raay hit a sensational 137.

Results

In the Semi-Final we played Pearcedale which batted first and struggled from the very start, particularly against the slow bowling of Brian McCue (5/64) and Dave Hastings (1/48). Cameron Park chimed in with a wicket, but the success story was Kieran McCluskey who had taken 35 wickets for the Season in the 2nds but who had not, until the Semi-Final, been given a game in the 1sts. Kieran took 3/27 to literally break the back of the Pearcedale innings. When we batted, Bob Martin (33) and "Potto" (66) took to the bowlers and at tea with the score 1/125 there was not much doubt of our victory. The match ended soon after tea with the score at 5/178.

Semi-Final
Long Island 5/178 (R.Martin 33, P.Conell 66) defeated Pearcedale 174 (K.McCluskey 3/27, B.McCue 5/64)

In the Grand Final we were sent in to bat. We lost Bob Martin early, but "Potto" and "Finn" McLeod were picking up runs nicely until "Potto" edged an attempted drive, then "Slug" Van Raay - after starting confidently - copped a good one, and we were 3/56. However "Doc" Vose and "Finn" carried through to tea and with the score at 3/109 we were looking good. They took the score to 119 when "Finn" departed, quickly followed by Vose, Hastings and Kent. Cameron Park got a few but "Breezer" McLeod was left stranded as Cuey and Kieran lived up to their reputations as good bowlers. The result was a miserable 143. Time remained for 5 overs to be bowled and McCluskey took the new ball. At stumps they were 2/9. On the next day, Kieran and "Postie" opened the attack, but the runs began to flow. "Breezer" McLeod was given an over, then Cuey tried his stuff. It was not until Cameron Park was introduced into the attack that things started for us. Cuey came back, finished with 4/24 off 19 overs and Parky took 4/33 off 21 overs - Flinders was all out for 118. With 24 overs to be bowled the openers decided to play their cricket as they had done all year, and a 50-run partnership ensued. Bob was dismissed for 26 but "Potto" remained 46 not out at stumps - 1/84. On the final day "Potto" and "Finn" McLeod resumed, and despite a couple of streaky shots they remained cool, and with the score at 1/157 the game was called off - LONG ISLAND PREMIERS.

Grand Final
Long Island 143 (P.Conell 20, S.McLeod 34, G.Vose 38) and 1/157 (P.Conell 87no, R.Martin 26, S.McLeod 20no)
defeated Flinders 118 (K.McClusky 2/23, B.McCue 4/24, C.Park 4/33)

2nd XI
The seconds looked to be the best team in the competition when they went through the Season with only one loss, and in that game they had the opposition (Pearcedale) in trouble both times with the ball. However we faltered badly in the Semi-Final and spent the Grand Final looking on. The team had some excellent contributors, especially Craig Small who hit a Club record 696 runs for the Season, and Kieran McCluskey with 35 wickets.

Results

Semi-Final :
Playing Main Ridge, a team we had beaten comfortably during the Season, we approached this match with confidence, but batting first and with wickets falling on a regular basis, the confidence was soon knocked out of our sails. Only 3 batsmen reached double figures, including "Chappie" who was (rightfully) batting at No 11. In the Main Ridge innings, they had everything going for them, plenty of time and not many runs to make, and although 3/47 at stumps on the first day, they were always in the box seat. The match was called off when the score reached 5/165.

Long Island 84 (C.Crofts 24) lost to Main Ridge 5/165 (B.Chapman 2/24)

3rd XI
The 3rds, playing in the strong "A" Grade Competition, had a pretty ordinary start to the Season, losing the first two games, but buoyed-up by the 2nds on occasions, then showing good form at the end of the Season, we were able to retain our spot in the Four. Virtually the last four games were Finals as a loss in any of them would have seen the team out of the Four.

Results

Semi Final
Finishing in fourth position we were drawn to play top team Pines. Their batsmen were unable to come to grips with "Gabba" Park's pace and could only manage 105. In reply we were 2/85 at stumps. On the second day "Gabba" and Stuart Doolan took the score past the Pines total and the game was stopped midway through the afternoon.

Long Island 3/128 (S.Doolan 36no, G.Park 64) defeated Pines 105 (G.Park 5/43)

Grand Final
Playing newcomers to the MPCA - Frankston RSL - we batted first and did not recover from their excellent start. Six players reached double figures but none went on with it and we only managed 139. At stumps on the first day they had lost 3 wickets, and the match was evenly poised. On Day 2 either team could have won, and for a time it looked like Long Island, however a couple of blemishes in the field helped RSL to consolidate and they passed us with 8 wickets down, eventually scoring 165. We decided to throw the bat at everything - it didn't work too well, so we conceded late in the day.

Long Island 139 (G.Housley 20, G.Palmer 38) and 8/53
lost to Frankston RSL 165 (G.Measham 2/33, G.Park 3/43, A.Vose 2/46, G.Palmer 3/27)

4th XI
The 4th XI had a topsy-turvy Season - early in the Season dropping a couple of games which they should have won, but coming back strongly at the end of the Season to grab top spot. The Semi Final was a disappointment because we were good enough to beat YCW, but a disastrous miss off Peter Worland in the first over of the match cost us over 100 runs. In the end we almost pulled-off a miracle win with "Dusty" Hume (and Rosso standing at the other end) hitting them everywhere.

Results

Semi Final
Frankston YCW took the breaks that came its way in this match - a dropped catch in the first over, missed catches at other stages and some ordinary fielding - while we were not up to our best. "Dusty" and Peter Worland bowled their hearts out, and Richard Hall, who had had a pretty lean year, put together a delightful 62 while "Dusty" hammered 47 at the very end.

Long Island 192 (R.Hall 62, D.Hume 47) lost to Frankston YCW 248 (D.Hume 3/51, P.Worland 3/55, W.Ross 2/42)

5th XI
The 5ths looked to be a class above all other teams in their Grade, right up until the last couple of games. The team grabbed top spot from the very start of the Season, only lost one game (the second last game) and looked a good bet to reach the Grand Final. Heatherhill however had other ideas.

Results

Semi Final
We batted first and with Steve Nennstiel and Roy Watts putting on 103 for the 1st wicket things were looking good, however the later batsmen were not able to capitalise on the good start, and we were dismissed just prior to stumps for 218. The Heatherhill batsmen were just too good, and we were only able to pick up two wickets before they reached the target.

Long Island 218 (R.Watts 77, S.Nennstiel 38) lost to Heatherhill 2/219

6th XI
The 6ths only lost one home and home game but were not considered to be certainties to make the Four until they won their second last match. Even though they lost only one match, they finished in third position.

Results

Semi Final
Playing Frankston East in this match we batted first, and after a reasonable start by Bob Bowden and Ivan Meddings with a 48-run partnership, we fell in a hole. Our batsmen were unable to come to grips with the situation and we were dismissed for a meagre 101. When we bowled, luck didn't come our way. "Simmo" and Kieran were stiff and Rosso could have had any number of wickets. However, it was not to be, and they continued on in Day 2 to record a pretty easy win.

Long Island 101 (R.Bowden 27) lost to Frankston East 4/133 (N.Ross 2/33)

7th XI
A magnificent effort for the Season by this team, losing only one game. Although the Semi Final was lost we weren't disgraced, in fact with an ounce of luck we could have been playing in the Grand Final. The Season was made more difficult because it was this team which was forced to rotate players from Round to Round to ensure that players got a reasonable amount of games throughout the Season.

Results

Semi Final
We got off to a fairly good start with "Fishy" showing patience and picking up runs, and Jeff Roach prodding as only he can, to give us a 44 run start, but we were soon in trouble at 5/78. Ray Harley and Clarrie put on 56 but apart from Parko (Ben), things were pretty ordinary. In their innings, Frankston East batsmen had a few lives, played and missed consistently against Norm, but made enough to take the game and move into the Grand Final.

Long Island 179 (S.Fishwick 30, C.Swan 39, R.Harley 29) lost to Frankston East 4/192 (N.Stickland 2/53)

During the Season the Club had some excellent performers. Two Partnership records were broken and two double-centuries were scored - Chris Burke, 206 and Kevin Ryan, 230 not out - both in the Sub-District 2nds Grade. Apart from these efforts, our batsmen generally scored a lot more runs than in the past while the wickets were still there to be taken.

Statistical records were :

Runs
696 Craig Small
584 Peter Conell
577 Bob Hough
511 Geoff Palmer
505 Richard Carter
468 Roy Watts
456 Sean Kelly
454 Kevin Ryan
453 Matt Parkinson
448 Gary Housley
436 Neil Kent
423 Chris Burke
414 Jason Murchie
402 Graham Vose
400 Bob Bowden
387 Stuart McLeod
386 Mick Humphrey
375 Dave Hastings
317 Gareth Park
311 Danny Holden
310 Paul Heller
309 Bob Martin & Peter Ridgway
295 Lindsay Batey
294 Stuart Doolan
288 Gary Strong & Doug Van Raay
286 Daniel Watts
280 Steve Nennstiel
279 Gary Buckley
266 Jim Chubb
263 Trevor Ryan
260 Steve Fishwick
255 Alan Splatt
243 Daryl Hume
224 Gordon McLeod
222 Clarrie Swan
221 Paul Rudd
195 Ivan Meddings
192 Mark Sargant
188 Ray Harley
184 Tony Smith
177 Dale McCurdy
174 Jeff Roach
166 Cameron Park
164 Bob Hindle
160 Richard Hall
159 David Simons
153 Peter Worland

Centuries
1st XI
Graham Vose 106,
Neil Kent 111,
Dave Hastings 104no,
Peter Conell 103
2nd XI
Craig Small 102no & 120no,
Kevin Ryan 230no,
Matt Parkinson 115
3rd XI
Chris Burke 206,
Geoff Palmer 132no,
Alan Splatt 101no
4th XI
Jim Chubb 121,
Lindsay Batey 119,
Roy Watts 102,
Jason Murchie 112no & 101no
5th XI
Bob Hough 108 and 136,
Richard Carter 103
7th XI
Peter Ridgway 144,
Mick Humphrey 143

Wickets
40 Kieran McCluskey
32 Steve Griffin
31 Brian McCue
30 Daryl Hume
26 Gareth Park, Norm Stickland & Gary Measham
25 Dave Hastings, Cameron Park, Brian Chapman & Nathan Ross
24 Geoff Palmer & Dave Simons
23 Mick Humphrey & Greg Lamb
21 Andrew Vose & Mal Humphrey
20 Gary Buckley
18 Daniel Watts, John Denton & Wayne Ross
16 Dale McCurdy & Rod Spalding
15 Bob Hough, Peter Worland & Greg Carbis
14 Jeff Boag & Matt Jolly
13 Greg Pretty
12 Clarrie Swan, Cameron McLeod & Adam Dennison
10 Danny Holden & Paul Roach

5-Wicket Innings
1st XI
Cameron Park 6/85,
Dave Hastings 6/31 & 5/58 ,
Brian McCue 5/64
2nd XI
Matt Jolly 5/35 ,
Kieran McCluskey 5/24 & 5/50 ,
Brian Chapman 5/10 & 5/35,
Greg Lamb 6/39
3rd XI
Andrew Vose 5/47 ,
Gary Measham 7/52 ,
Gareth Park 5/43
4th XI
Gary Buckley 5/32 & 5/86 ,
Wayne Ross 5/76 & 5/52 ,
Peter Worland 6/36
5th XI
Steve Griffin 5/16, 6/35 & 7/45
6th XI
Mal Humphrey 5/10 ,
Nathan Ross 5/32
7th XI
Mick Humphrey 6/31 ,
Norm Stickland 5/35 & 6/80 ,
John Denton 6/38

Fielding (Catches, Stumpings & Run Outs) :
18 Mark Sargant
17 Bob Martin
16 Sam Griffiths
14 Aaron Wright & Trevor Ryan
13 Stuart McLeod
12 Sean Kelly & Peter Ridgway
11 Wayne Carter
10 Steve Wisniewski
9 Cameron Park, Alan Splatt & Jeff Roach
8 Bob Hough, Dave Simons, Kevin Ryan, David Splatt, Jason Murchie, Doug Van Raay & Stuart Doolan
7 Peter Conell, Matt Parkinson, Gregh Lamb, Gordon McLeod, Doug Heller, Steve Fishwick, Matt Jolly & Steve Meddings
6 Craig Small, Gareth Park, Jim Chubb, Andrew Vose & Greg Carbis
5 Geoff Palmer, Danny Holden, Lindsay Batey, Steve Nennstiel, Ivan Meddings, Ray Harley & Rob Hatherall

Trophy winners for the Season were :

Kieran McCluskey was awarded a trophy for the Best Performance in the 1st XI Semi-Final, and Cameron Park took the Award for the Grand Final. All players in the victorious Grand Final team received a Pennant commemorating the effort, and a special plaque was struck for the 1st XI Team Manager, Mal Ritchie for his substantial efforts with the team during the Season. Bob Hough won the Player of the Year Award for the third occasion - the first player to do this, Bob Smith was awarded the Best Clubman Trophy and Alan Splatt was presented with the President's Award . At the start of the Season the General Committee decided to institute a Best Player Award to be voted on by the various opposition Captains, and open to all players in all XI's. The Committee decided to name the Award the "Gordon McLeod Best Player Award" in honour of one of the Club's leading players over the years. In its initial Season there was a three-way tie between Bob Hough, Mick Humphrey and Danny Holden. The Club held the vote-count on the Thursday night preceeding the Semi-Finals, drawing much interest.

Junior Cricket
The Club fielded seven Junior teams in Season 1991/92 - 2 in the Under 12 Grades, 3 in the Under 14's and 2 in Under 16 Competitions. The Under 16 (East) team made the Finals in the premier Under-age competition in the MPCA, as did the Under 14 (East) and Under 14 (West). All in all, 97 boys represented the Club in Junior cricket during 1991/92.

The two Under 12 teams again played in the non-competitive Grades and performed excellently throughout the Season. The teams were managed by two Senior players who had graduated from the Club's Juniors a few Seasons ago - Doug Van Raay and Marty Kelly. With both Doug and Marty having gone through the mill at Long Island (at the hands of McLeod and Worland), the Club was confident that its youngest members were in very capable hands. The Club used 36 boys in the Under 12's during the Season.

The main performers were :

Runs
236 Sam Coates
167 Mark Heller
153 Josh Murphy
141 Lucas Van Raay
123 Shane McDonald & David Collins
116 Leigh Batey
111 Joel Stevenson
71 Ben Tait
64 Adam Strong, Nicholas Tait & Peter Wilkinson
60 Toby.Middleton

Wickets
14 Lucas Van Raay
9 Sam Coates
8 Joel Stevenson, Shaun Clifton & Ryan Murphy
6 Brian Stone, A.Campbell, G,Smith & Ben Tait
5 M.Parry, M.Roberts, Martin Bowden & Marcus Law

Under 14 Team Managers were Graham Cox (Wests), Andrew Thorpe (Centrals) and Gordon McLeod (Easts). The West team finished in fourth place, an excellent effort considering that the boys were the youngest and less experienced members in this age group. The Centrals struggled in matches but ended the Season with a win over the eventual Premiers, Frankston East. The East team took out the Premiership, losing only the first game of the Season.

In the Semi-Final, the boys drew (because of the adverse weather) with Langwarrin, scoring 7/175 and having Langwarrin 3/31 at the end of play. Trevor Johnston batted well to score 29 and Michael Godfrey played one his best innings' for the Club with 37 not out. On the bowling side, John Forrest continued his good form by taking 2/11. Progressing to the Grand Final, we played Mt Eliza. Bowling first, our bowlers stuck to the task well and with the fielding and the 'keeping of Trevor Johnston first class, we restricted their main batsmen to just over 3 runs an over. Openers Ben Coates and David Wisniewski both retired with 50 runs to their names, and things were looking good, but to Mt Eliza's credit their bowlers fought back. However we just had too much batting and reached the target with the loss of 6 wickets.

Grand Final

Major contributors for the Season were :

Runs
337 Ben Coates
285 David Wisniewski
206 Baden McWilliams
195 John Forrest
153 Trevor Johnston
140 Matthew Brown
138 Jon Tait
136 Patrick Van Raay
128 Craig Hill
117 Michael Godfrey
107 Robert French
87 Stephen Wallace
84 David Smith & Dale Chubb
83 Grant Jeffries

Wickets
14 John Forrest, Stephen Wallace & Stuart Swift
13 Barry Brophy
12 Dion Melder
11 Patrick Van Raay
10 Robert French
8 Michael Wilson, Neil Sly, Grant Jeffries & Adam Fenton

The Under 16's were managed by Alan Splatt (Easts) and Wayne Carter (Centrals). The Central team had a pretty ordinary Season with a number of the players new to the game. Wayne Carter, who took the boys over after Darren Shiel's departure mid-Season, did a fine job considering that this was a job which he had definitely retired from. The Under 16 East team had a very good Season and finished runner-up to the very strong Baxter combination. The team started the Season in fine style although we struggled to dismiss teams. Lying third on the ladder with one game to go - a one day (27 overs each) game, we dismissed Frankston YCW in 25 overs, and in the remaining 29 overs blasted 286 runs - a MPCA record for a One-Day game. This effort put the boys in top spot at the end of the Home and Home Round.
In the Semi-Final we played Mornington and because of the adverse weather played a draw, although the scores had indicated a huge advantage to Long Island. John Georgiou (109) and Steve Meddings(134 not out) kept the runs ticking over and David Splatt hit a tidy 27 not out at the end. We amassed 3/309 (another MPCA record, this time for a Semi-Final), then when rain stopped play, Mornington was 8/75 with Nathan Ross having the fine figures of 6/37.

Grand Final
In the Grand Final we were in trouble early with our top order batsmen blasted out - only Ryan Chubb showed resistance. But the tail-enders put their heads down and we managed to score 127. Baxter started their chase in good style, but Damien Des Barres and Nathan Ross picked up a couple of wickets each and all of a sudden the game was there to be won. But in the end their strength showed through and they reached the target with 6 wickets down.

Major performers during the Season were :

Runs
496 John Georgiou
492 Steve Meddings
291 Ryan Chubb
271 Paul Henderson
228 Chris Traynor
166 Ryan Carter
160 Peter Aquino
149 Damien Des Barres
124 David Splatt
113 Matthew Swift
89 C.Story
79 David Simpkin
76 Mark Sargant
73 Kieran Worland

Wickets
25 Nathan Ross & Chris Traynor
19 Kieran Worland
14 Damien Des Barres
12 Paul Henderson
10 Nathan Swan
9 Adrian Rodrigues
7 Steven Jones

During the Season the Club had some great workers with Les Thomas trying his hand at everything, Bob Hough and Jeff Roach with construction works, including the building of a pegola in front of the rooms. Alan Splatt, Rob Hatherall, Bob Hindle, Gordon McLeod, Peter Worland and Wayne Ross added their support. The very substantial supervisory work by Steve Griffin meant that the pegola was erected in a sturdy and proper manner.

The ladies were again magnificent. Helen Van Raay who was appointed as Kitchen Manageress by the Committee, undertook to have everything in place when knockout games were being played or coaching clinics were being run, and again never let the Club down. The other ladies - Chris Hough, Chris Worland, Rhonda Ross, Rhonda Smith, Ann Harley and Dawn Swan - also provided the players with meals after matches as well as organising social activities.
Bob Smith, the Club's Bar Manager, did a great job ensuring that there were enough supplies, and the hours that Bob put in were both substantial and also much appreciated.