Cricketers recognised at awards night

Tocumwal’s Brandon Meloury collected the MVCA C-Grade Best and Fairest A & C Owen Shield with 12 votes across the 2024/25 season.

Luke Bauer from Cobram was C-grade runner-up with 10 votes and fellow Tocumwal player Lachlan McDonald was equal third with 8 votes alongside Strathmerton’s Jacob Atkins.

Meloury also took out the league batting average award having a fantastic season with 321 runs at an average of 53.50.

The C-Grade bowling average award was taken out by Nathalia’s Greg Vallender with 12 wickets at a bowling average of 9 while Tocumwal’s McDonald was a runner-up taking 13 wickets at a bowling average 9.23.

Berrigan had two selections in the A-grade MVCA team of the year with Matthew Ross who had 445 runs at an average of 34.23 and 20 wickets at an average of 12.35 across the season and Jacob Bartlett with 27 wickets at a bowling average of 14.74 and 322 runs at an average of 24.77 runs.

Finley also had an A-grade team of the year inclusion with Harry Wilkinson named as the wicketkeeper with 271 runs at an average of 24.64 with 13 catches and three stumpings.

Both Brandon Meloury and Lachlan McDonald made the MVCA C-grade Team of the Year.

Katamatite left-arm spinner Kepler Lukies may just need another trophy cabinet after cleaning up best-and-fairest, MVP, and the highly regarded Guthrie Medal on 19 votes.

In the count for the Guthrie, Lukies was followed by Brodie Bennett (Deniliquin, 15 votes), Griegan French (Deniliquin, 14 votes) and Shaun Downie (Cobram, 13 votes).

The 2025 MVCA Rising Star award also went to Lukies for his effort of 336 runs, 36 wickets and 11 catches across the season.

A handful of local talent followed closely, with Cobram’s Hugh Hyde (324 runs, five wickets and seven catches) and Tyler Green (Katamatite, 403 runs, three catches and 6 stumpings) also making a name for themselves.

Cobram’s Bryan Eddy and Travis Thompson of Katamatite shared the Gemmill Award for B-grade best-and-fairest.

Meanwhile, Shaun McAllister (Katunga) took the award for the highest bowling average in the B-grade with 31 wickets at 7.74.

Col Smith, who was inducted into the MVCA Hall of Fame in November 2023, was made a life member of the association.

Cobram Cricket Club Secretary Alison Brooks and co-coach Lachlan Hyde accepted on behalf of their club the Pat Barrett Club Championship award. It is the seventh year running that the Cobram Cricket Club has received the award.

The ceremony was held just days before Cobram faced Deniliquin in the A-grade grand final.

A-grade Team of the Year: Griegan French (Deniliquin), Tyler Green (Katamatite), Riyaad Henry (Barooga), Brodie Bennett (Deniliquin), Andrew Hogan (Deniliquin), Matthew Ross (Berrigan), Kepler Lukies (Katamatite), Harry Wilkinson (Finley), Jacob Bartlett (Berrigan), Dylan Cunningham (Nathalia), Matt Taylor (Deniliquin) and Jeremy Baden (Cobram).

B-grade Team of the Year: Bryan Eddy (Cobram), Rohan Allport (Katamatite), Andrew Erickson (Katamatite), Mark Wilson (Nathalia), Hunter Hardwidge (Cobram), Daniel Henderson (Katunga), Darcy Edis (Katamatite), Braydon Kearns (Nathalia), Travis Thompson (Katamatite), Jawid Iqbal Anwar (Katamatite) and Shaun McAllister (Katunga).

C-grade Team of the Year: Brandon Meloury (Tocumwal), Luke Bauer (Cobram), Scott Bray (Katamatite), Darby Salter (Katunga), Zander Quinn (Nathalia), Indika Deshapriya De Zoysa (Strathmerton), Lachlan Marshall (Deniliquin), Lachlan McDonald (Tocumwal), Greg Vallender (Nathalia), Samuel Stokes (Strathmerton) and James Bray (Katamatite).

Photos courtesy of the MVCA.