Gator Gazette Season 2025/26 - Edition 6

Insidethelatest

A word from the Prez, Coach and Captains

Match Reports from Rounds 12-14

Latest Ladders

Junior News

Presentation Night

Merchandise Range

Upcoming social events

FINALSBECKONASGATORS PUSHINGFORMORE

The Home and Away seaon drew to a close across February, but not for a number of teams who progress through to finals

A subperb season by James Dekel reached over 1000 runs this season as the 1 XI find themselves in a Qualifying Final against Olinda Meanwhile the 2 XI fought valliantly across February to end the season not far off a Finals berth in their own right

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The 3 XI play host to finals also after finishing 2 in precedings, and will now face Gembrook at Windermere in a Semi Final. Meanwhile, a youthful 4 XI has now finished too after matches against Knox Gardens and The Basin to finish the season rd nd

Mountain Gate’s Women’s sides have made waves in February, with the 1 XI utilising the double chance in a Preliminary Final against Belgrave for the chance to play against Montrose in the decider The 2 XI had an undoubtable highlight, knocking over South Belgrave for their first win of the year

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The Veterans reached the Semi Finals against Knox Gardens, whilst the Under 16s were runners-up against Emerald. However the Under 12s side with Johnson Park are Premiers, defeating St Johns Tecoma

AWORDFROMPREZ: CHOPCUNNINGHAM

Now that the Home and Away season is done, I can say how proud I am of everyone that makes up this club. All our Seniors, Womens, Veterans and Junior players, all those that put their hands up to help make this place better - thank you!

We have seen some amazing things over this year, including JD reaching 1000 runs in a home and away season will not happen for quite some time and is a unique feat to savour Congratulations!

However the season is not yet complete The 1 XI finished second and will travel to Olinda for the Qualifying Final, the 3 XI play Gembrook at Windermere and the Women host Belgrave at HV Jones. It really will be a fantastic weekend!

COACH’SCORNER

ShaunNugara

14 rounds of cricket done and dusted Proud is an understatement.

Having two teams solidify their spot from early in the season to having the seconds fighting till the last few rounds shows just how hungry we are to be playing in the post season.

shirts on and with plenty of support!

I’ve been very proud to coach the club over the past two seasons. The boys and girls who have attended trainings have done so with a purpose to better themselves, which has definitely shown on gameday

Those who have been given their chances have taken it with both hands, which will set them up in good stead for the following seasons and give themselves confidence knowing they belong at a particular level

For those that felt they didn’t hit their full potential in the home and away season, it’s time to peak in the finals if you’re given the opportunity to. Work hard, back yourself and play your game That’s my message for those playing finals

It’s a funny game cricket and I believe we can finish the season with plenty of trophies in the cabinet. I’d love to see as many people down at training as possible even if they aren’t going to be playing to help one another out

Let’s back ourselves and bring home the goods!

Gator on!!

Hi Gator family,

CAPTAINKEV

With the last few rounds now completed, it is great to see the club finishing so strong!

With round 12, facing SKLPS, we won the toss and elected to bat first Our top order didn’t get off to a great start, however the middle order with Chamma and Josh proved to be a vital partnership of 117 Josh making 43 and Chamma with his maiden century scoring 101, helped us post 246 With the ball in the first innings, Chamma finished with 2/15 and Dulana with 2/19, where we ended up bowling them out for 124 and we elected to put SKlPS back in. Second innings, chamma was the main damaged with 6/28, finishing the game with 101 and 8/43.

Round 13 saw us verse Knox Boronia where again we batted first The team posted 364 where Jimmy scored 176, well supported with Pamir 57 and Wayne 33 In the second week, we managed to bowl them out for 71, jimmy damaging with the ball claiming 4/8 off 7 Sending Knox boronia back in, the team did their best but in the end missed out bowling them out Congratulation to coach Shaun claiming his first ever wicket in 1XI.

CAPTAINGA

GabbyGiulieri

It’s been another incredible season for women’s program a Mountain Gate Crick Club, with plenty happening both on and off the field!

KevinAtacador

Last round saw us travel to St Johns, where Brodie was captain for the last game The main highlight of this game, was seeing Jimmy score back to back centuries, and even more impressive by scoring more than 1000runs in a home and away season! This is no easy feat, so congrats Jimmy.

However, the spotlight also needs to go to Ethan, where debuting in the 1XI after a great season in the 2s, saw him bowl 2/24 off 63oversreally great to see him get his first wicket in 1XI, but equally impressive to see how much he has improved This season he claimed a total of 28 wickets!!

Lastly, although home and away season is completed, finals is upon us. It would be great to see as much of the Gator army supporting across all teams!

The commitment and improvements from the group all season has been outstanding! A big thank you to the ladies from SKLPS who joined us throughout the season

Our 1XI are finals bound, which is a fantastic effort. Unfortunately we went down to Montrose in week one of finals, but the girls get another crack this week when we take on Belgrave at HV. Hopefully we can bounce back and keep the finals run alive and book our ticket to the big dance!

The 2XI finished the season strongly, even picking up a win with just eight players which is an incredible effort, especially considering the side moved up a grade this year.

They brought great energy to the group, and our players had a lot of fun playing alongside them. We look forward to hopefully working together again in the future.

Finally, congratulations to our joint 1XI Best and Fairest winners, Miah Beardshaw and Molly McCoy Both have had incredible seasons and are worthy winners Our 2XI BnF will be announced at Presentation night so tune in!

Best of luck to all sides playing finals, lets bring home a few flags!

Gabs

FABULOUSFEBRUARYSEES GATORSQUALIFYINTHE QUALIFIER

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Mountain Gate’s 1 XI finds themselves in a qualifying final against Olinda following an undefeated February which nearly resulted in two outrights

Round 12 saw the Gators host SKLPS Boronia at HV Jones. The visitors were on the attack early, with only Pamir Hussaini (26 from 41 balls) providing a start as the Gators hit 5/64.

However Josh Hardman paired up with Chamud Bhasula for a 117-run 6 wicket partnership, with Hardman reaching 43 from 132 balls. Bhasula continued on, some late innings striking bringin up his maiden century in Gator colours at 101 from 142 balls, including 6 fours, to recover the innings for the hosts with 246 on the board th

With the ball, Bhasula (2/15 from 9 overs) broke through early to claim the opening pair, before SKLPS reached 3/94 From there however the Gators put them in a spin, firstly with Dulana Karunachandra (2/19 from 6 overs) and then with Kevin Atacador (4/17 from 54 overs)

The visitors lost 7/30 to be all out for 124 and were asked to bat again with Mountain Gate chasing a ladder-topping outright

A much more aggressive lineup came out in the second dig, however that didn’t stop super-allrounder Chamud Bhasula, claiming 6/28 from 10 as the Gators held 6 points for the win

The penultimate round saw Knox Boronia come to HV Jones for the final home match of the season.

Batting first, Pamir Hussaini reached a well made half century, 57 runs from 76 balls including 8 fours. Wayne Davidson (33 from 73 balls) also posted well to the score, however yet again the innings belonged to James Dekel, hitting 176 from 154 balls including 17 fours and 2 sixes as the Gators posted a mammoth 364

In reply, the Burras were in all sorts as Dekel (4/8 from 7 overs), Kevin Atacador (3/6 from 41 overs) and Pamir Hussaini (2/11 from 53 overs) kept the visitors to 71 In a second attempt at full points, the Burras remained composed to see off the Gator threat, finishing play at 6/146 with wickets to Dekel (2/21 from 10 overs) and Josh Hardman (2/43 from 8 overs)

The final home and away match had the Gators visit Talaskia Reserve against St Johns On a humid day, the visitors worked hard with Wayne Davidson reaching a half century James Dekel reached rare air - his 4 century of the year taking him past the mythical 1000-run mark as the Gators reached 6/243. th

With ball, the Gators shared wickets around with Brodie Wise (2/21), Brady Hunt (2/24) and 1 XI debutant Ethan Williams (2/24) all claiming wickets. Braedyn Williams had a day out behind the stumps with 2 catches, 3 run-outs and a stumping as the Saints were dismissed for 85. st

After finishing second on the ladder, the Gators now travel to Olinda this weekend with the winner provided safe passage to the Bailey Shield Final

GATORSHAWKISHAGAINST ROWVILLE

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Mountain Gate’s 2 XI have concluded season 2025/26, with a nervy 1-wicket win over Rowville the highlight of the final month

Bowling first, Brady Hunt terrorised the hosts from the opening overs, claiming 6/27 from 151 overs as the Gators applied pressure early to keep their season chances alive. Ethan Williams (2/25 from 10 overs) and Ryan Stapleton (2/29 from 10 overs) teamed up well in support as Rowville were dismissed in the 51 over for 127. st

However the target proved to be tricky as the host bowlers were equal to the task at hand. Chris Tuplin stood tall at the top of the innings, his 41 from 69 balls proving invaluable as starts and wickets littered the scoresheet

A wagging lower order kept the pulse going on the run chase, relying on the final pairing of Brady Hunt and Ethan Williams to steer the Gators home by 1 wicket

No such fairytales existed the following round against ladder leaders Johnson Park A long day in the field at Fairpark Oval had the Gator attack on the back foot before Thomas Button took control, claiming 4/108 form 22 overs Ethan Williams continued his charge with the ball, claiming 3/53 whilst single-wicket efforts from Mark Stapleton (1/35), Luke Bakker (1/39) and Chris Tuplin (1/46) got

Shah ended the year with a third halfcentury, this time reaching 51 not out against Monbulk

the Sharks all out for 303

The match was over as a contest rather quickly as the hosts claimed 5/38 before Anok Miranda fought back in the middle order with Ryan Stapleton (19 from 24 balls) Miranda reached 32 from 53 balls as the Gators were all out for 93 in the 41 over. st

An unlikely finals appearance was possible as the Gators hosted Monbulk in the final round at HV.

Batting first, the hosts changed the line up as Luke Bakker opened the batting, plundering a quickfire 29 from 25 balls including 5 fours and a six

Brady was in the Hunt for a man-of-the-match performance, claiming 6/27 before hitting the winning run against Rowville

Shoaib Sobhan’s form with the bat carried on again, hiting an unbeaten 51 from 85 balls including 7 fours Justin Wise then provided some lower order exploints reaching 31 from 47 balls as the Gators reached 8/163

In reply, wickets were hard to come by as the visitors peeled off the required runs resorting to short and sharp spells, Justin Wise (1/18 from 3 overs), Mark Stapleton (1/19 from 8 overs), Ryan Stapleton (1/20 from 3 overs) and Matthew Carter (1/25 from 8 overs) all shared the wickets before Monbulk reached 4/164 in the 36 over th

With all said and done, the Gators finished the season in 6 place however with a young talented squad, future editions can expect a rapid rise up the standings in years to come th

Doug Barton has been a rock in the middle order, steering through the danger to posts starts in all matches in February

FINALSFORTHIRDSAS GATORSFINISHSTRONG

Mountain Gate’s 3 XI has finished second and will host Gembrook in a Semi Final after the conclusion of the home and away matches.

In a return top-of-the-table match against Knoxfield, the Gators went to Benedikt Reserve in search of points and a break at the top.

Didula Liyanapathirana (3/13 from 7 overs) proved to be destructive in tandem with Kavith Weeraratna (2/13 from 3 overs) on the small ground, helping restrict the Knights to 129 after 35 overs in the heat-affected one day match

The arm wrestle for the top rung was on, with the Gators being restricted in scoring Doug Barton opened with 13 from 33 balls, before Kavith Weeraratne (21 from 28 balls) teamed with Buddhika Induruwage (18 not out from 71 balls)

Justin Wise hit a rapid 24 from 19 balls, before Mark Lieversz closed out the result with an unbeaten 40 not out from 49 balls as the Gators reached 4/135 in the final over

The Gators followed the result up again the following week against SKLPS Boronia at Windermere Reserve in a 44-run win

Batting first, the Gators delived a complete batting display with 8 double-digit scores across the day Doug Barton (37 from 85 balls) lead the way, with Nick Cluckie (26 from 50 balls), Dave Tulloch (22 from 29 balls) and

Lachlan Barton (22 from 113 balls) in puting runs on the board, all out in the 67 over for 190. th

With the ball, Buddhika Induruwage claimed 3/24 from 10 overs, with support from Didula Liyanapathirana (2/28 from 14 overs) and Doug Barton (2/8 from 6 overs) to restrict the visitors to 146

A final-round match against Belgrave brought the Gators back to earth, falling by 44 runs to the Magpies

It was a long day chasing leather for the hosts, with Anok Miranda (1/18 from 4 overs) the only wicket taker with Belgrave setting 1/152 from their 35 overs

In reply, early wickets fell before the middle order fired a shot with Kavith Weeraratne (13 from 25 balls), Buddhika Induruwage (30 from 50 balls) and Anok Miranda (11 from 18 balls) all scoring runs from first-drop onwards Ultimately, the 35 overs saw Mountain Gate reach 8/108

The loss saw the Gators slip to second in an odd situation - the Gators scored 9 more points than the first-placed Knoxfield and achieved more wins than any other team in Community 3. However this was levelled out by the average points per game model, with the Knights and Gators both averaging 4.50 per match - the former with the better percentage.

Nonetheless, the Gators will continue their season into March against Gembrook at Windermere Reserve on 7 and 8 March, with an eye on stamping the ticket into the Grand Final on 14 and 15 March th th th th

Buddhika Induruwage has found form at the right time of year heading into a Semi Final

YOUNGGATORSFINISH WELL

Mountain Gate’s 4 XI has finished season 2025/26, with the young squad showing plenty of promise in matches against Knox Boronia, Knox Gardens and The Basin th

In a season where facing much more experience lineups, the Gators were in the thick of a number of matches across February’s fixtures

Round 10 saw the Gators play Knox Boronia at Windermere Batting first, Nathan Beswick spent time at the crease compiling 22 from 85 balls, batting alongside Nakoa Beswick who took from his father’s book with 17 from 65 balls.

Time at the crease was the goal for the team, batting through 58 overs with 102 on the board at the fall of the last wicket.

In reply, the Burra’s were in early trouble at 3/14 thanks to wickets to Chris Young (1/12 from 7 overs) and Mano Esarapu (1/13 from 7 overs) Nakoa Beswick (1/4 from 7 overs) and Mikaela Giulieri (1/16 from 7 overs) bowled well beyond their years however with a small target to defend the task proved too great - the visitors reaching 5/105 at the 40 over mark

The second last round saw a trip to Knox Garden’s back oval to take on the Falcons It took quite some time for the first breakthrough - Chris Young clipping the top of the stumps late in the innings to put the score 1/170 Continuing on into Day 2, Young continued to be rampant with the ball in hand, going on to claim 5/36 from 13 overs against his former club

Matthew Whitfield (1/50 from 9 overs) and Mikaela Giulieri (1/62 from 13 overs) also claimed wickets as the Falcons posted 7/333.

With the bat, Nathan Beswick (17 from 41 balls) opened however the lead came in the middle order as Lucas Santilli reached his highest senior score with 34 from 93 balls Again, the youthful side claimed time at the middle with several lengthy stays against the host attack, with Chris Young (13 from 24 balls) provinding some lower attack before out for 138

The final one-day fixture against The Basin saw the finalists put their batting skills on display however were challenged as Joni Walai kept them honest, claiming 2/31 from 7 overs Chris Young claimed 1/27 from 7 overs, whilst Lucas Santilli was involved in all 3 wickets with 2 catches behind and a stumping as the Bears reached 3/192

Nakoa Beswick got out the blocks quickly with 28 from 38 balls, whilst Lucas Santilli again found form with the willow, reaching 27 from 33 balls Matthew Whitfield also took on the attack, scoring 12 from 37 balls as the Gators season concluded at 6/101.

Lucas Santilli was rewarded with runs against Knox Gardens and The Basin

GATORSFINISHSTRONGLY, DOUBLECHANCECOUNTS

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Mountain Gate’s 1 XI Women’s team is into a Preliminary Final against Belgrave after a month of great results

The undefeated February started against St Andrews, with the Gators going at a frantic pace in scoring runs

Molly Mccoy reached a half century, her 51 coming from 35 balls including 7 fours and 2 sixes Katherine Dekel hit 22, before Miah Beardshaw reached a run-a-ball 53.

Illah Latifi (38 from 47 balls) and Gabby Giulieri (38 from 22 balls) capped off the innings with the score 6/242 after 36 overs.

Katherine Dekel claimed 4/15 from 4 overs on debut to lead the bowling attack, supported by Friba Hotak (2/25 from 7 overs) as the Saints reached 9/115 in the comprehensive win.

Lusatia Park was next on the cards as Bibi Amar (3/6 from 4 overs) and Friba Hotak (2/15 from 7 overs) helped restrict the Tigers to 108, before Sandra Tidey hit an unbeaten 50 not out including 7 fours as the Gators reached 3/109 in the 23 over for the points rd

A crucial Round 13 match against Kilsyth fell in favour of the Gators

Lucy Searle (2/15 from 5 overs) was the pick of the attack alongside Humaira Afghan (1/11 from 4 overs) in the tight bowling attack, keeping the Redbacks to 4/125 at the end of 36 overs

Molly Mccoy and Lucy Searle both reached 22 each, whilst down the other end Miah Beardshaw continued her golden summer, scoring her fourth half-century with 56 not out to reach 4/126 after 29 overs

The warpaint was on against Montrose in the Qualifying Final as skipper Gabby Giulieri lead the scoring with 35

GATORSBREAK THROUGHFORWIN OVERSOUTH

A back-ended fixture has seen the Gator/SKLPS womens team break through for their first win of the season as 2025/26 concluded.

The women played 5 matches across February and early March, starting against St Johns Tecoma at Talaskia Reserve

Mikaela Giulieri (1/18) was the only wicket-taker with the ball as the Saints posted 1/168 from the 30 overs, with Giulieri then returning to lead the batting with 21 from 53 balls as the Gator SKLPS reached 9/64 in reply against the top team in the grade

A narrow loss then followed against Johnson Park, going down by just 9 runs Prisha Pindoria was on fire, claiming 3/2 from 2 overs to keep the Sharks to 7/90 Nahida Sapan (11), Tisha Lakhani (10) and Abbie Pascoe (10 not out) pushed the score, however the Sharks wore down the wickets, dismissing for 81

A trip to Knox Gardens saw some great individual performances, with Nahida Sapan (39 from 60 balls) and Melissa Button (30 from 88 balls) puting on a 75-run opening partnership, setting up the Gators SKLPS to reach 4/85. In reply, Krupa Varsani (2/6 from 2 overs) claimed the only wickets as the Falcons reached 2/88.

However the highlight of the month was the first win of the campaign against South Belgrave. South posted 5/120 from their 25 overs, with Mikaela Giulieri claiming 3/20 from 5 The reply with the bat was measured, with Melissa Button (18 from 46 balls) and Gabby Giulieri (11 from 20 balls) starting before Mikaela Giulieri hit her highest score with 48 not out, including 7 fours as the 8-person Gators team reached 3/122

The season concluded against Olinda at HV Jones Ayesha Afghan (2/12 from 5) and Prisha Pindoria (2/31 from 7) both shared wickets in the visitors 4/143, before Miah Pearce (26 from 68 balls) and Abbie Pascoe (14 from 23 balls) were the highlights in the Gators SKLPS 5/115 to end season 2025/26

and her batting was key in the win at South, with a highest score of 48 not out

Mikaela Giulieri has been consistant on the wickets across February, including 3/20 against South Belgrave

FTGDCA Women A Grade

ST JOHNS TECOMA

GATORSTHE FALCONS

Mountain Gate’s Vetera Semi Finalists in one of FTGDCA

5 teams were vying for final matchday, the Ga with Upper Ferntree G

Tim Wise set the tone w century, while Dave Tu century - scoring 53 ret and a six

Elsewhere, Justin Wise with 27 from 29 balls, w Michael Cleland (13) an their part to reach 5/194

Early wickets helped ap with honours shared ar lead the attack, whilst s Osborne (1/25 from 6 ov overs), Ian Tudor (1/29 from 6 overs) and Doug Barton (1/33 from 6 overs) all helped to keep the Kings to 7/170 from the 36 overs - securing the Gators an away final.

After a frantic final match, the Gators ultimately placed third and found themselves up against Knox Gardens - a team they had beaten during the regular season.

Batting first, the Gators were on the back foot early falling to 3/20, before a flow of regular Falcon wickets put a press on the visiting batsmen to end at 8/131 on the slow ground

Dave Tulloch again was a beacon on the scorecard with 26 from 26 balls Bert Pearce (21 from 34 balls) toiled hard through the middle innings, alongside Doug Barton who top scored with 31 from 55 balls Justin Wise walked off not out with 17 from 28 balls

Early wickets were required and the Gators duely obliged, having the hosts 3/24 and very well matched to the earlier effort However the breakthroughs needed just didn’t eventuate, with the hosts realising the target at 6/133 in the 31 over st

Ben Osborne (2/13 from 6 overs) was the pick of the attack, with wickets to Buddhika Induruwage (1/25 from 5 overs), Tim Wise (1/24 from 6 overs), Doug Barton (1/27 from 4 overs) and Justin Wise (1/10 from 2.2 overs) concluding the season for the Vets.

Doug Barton left nothing on the table in the Vets Semi Final, top scoring with 31 from 55 balls

KNOX BORONIA

Mountain Gate Cricket Club endorses the new Victorian Cricket Integrity Policies and procedures as follows:

1 2026 Member Protection Policy; and 2. 2026 Complaints and Resolution Policy together with re-endorsing Australian Cricket’s Child Safeguarding Framework policies:

3 Commitment Statement;

4 Looking after our Kids Code of Behaviour; and 5. Policy for Safeguarding Children and Young People. All information can be found here

Time to update the wardrobe? Want to wear the most fashionable designs this season? We’ve got you covered...

Mountain Gate Cricket Club have teamed up with Sporting Fine Art to offer the most complete range of Gators apparel.

Whether rolling the arm over on a Thursday, scoring One Day half centuries in one day matches or centuries in two day matches, look the part whilst you represent!

And it’s simple to order: Visit the Club Portal, select your items, pay and it’s on its way

JUNIORANDSENIORPRESENTATIONNIGHTS

And just like that, Season 2025/26 is in the books!

Join us at Presentation Nights to conclude the season, celebrating individual highlights, contributions and award winning performances whilst acknowledging the teams who make up this wonderful club.

For the Juniors, a save the date has been placed for Friday 20 March with more information to follow on social media shortly th

Meanwhile, the Senior Presentation Nighthas been set for Saturday 18 April at Dorset Gardens Hotel Tickets are $70 per person, with tickets available via the QR code on the following page. th

Join us as we celebrate another fantastic season of cricket at the Mountain Gate Cricket Club!

7PM START $70 TICKET SATURDAY 18 APRIL DORSET GARDENS HOTEL TH

DRESS TO IMPRESS

Don't miss out, secure your spot today!

Scan the QR code or pay directly to:

BSB: 063 103

Account Number: 10048943

Reference: *Your name* Presentation

and Nakoa Beswick (33 from 60 balls) guided the Gator Knights to 8/234 and a Grand Final appearance

GATORGUNSREACH FINALS,12SPREMIERS

However it wasn reaching 4/104 b for 96 Nakoa Be in a gallant seaso

In the Under 14s, the light with the hosts dismissed reached 4/355.

However the sea with a home win

2025/26 COMMITTEE

President:ChopCunningham

VicePresident:LyndonRowlands& KevinAtacador

Secretary:RachaelAtacador

Treasurer:MichaelCleland

JuniorCoordinator:JoKilian& NathanGiulieri

GeneralCommittee:BrodieWise, GabrielleGiulieri,CaryssMcCulloch,Jeff Hunt,ImagenReibelt,DougBarton, RichardMillott,CooperGwynne

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