Well here we are into the final round of finals for Season 2025-26. Congratulations to everyone who was fortunate enough to get an appointment. As Neill our Appointment Manager mentioned in one of his recent Fireside Chats , if you missed out on an appointment, you may care to use this as motivation to go one better next season. Your committee fully agree with this statement and encourage all members to return with enthusiasm and readiness under the guidance of our new coac

The VSDCA Board has decided that commencing in Season 2026-27 , as a further commitment to player safety an approved neck protection must be worn when a helmet is in use. This will be enforced for all Pre-Season Practice, Pennant, Sunday Competition, T20 Twilight, and JG Craig Under 15 Games and in line with Cricket Australia’s recommendations for Community Cricket, it will apply for the use of helmets when batting, wicket keeping or fielding close to the stumps.

While there were few major milestones this round, Graham Hill reached an impressive achievement by umpiring his 200th 1st XI game. He shared the field at Oakleigh against Caulfield with Ian Wyatt, who also made news at our End of Season Dinner held earlier in the week.. Well done Graham and as a consequence of this milestone, he qualified to become a member of the VSDCA ‘200 Club’  So congratulations again Graham.  And thanks also go out to both teams for participating in the

A great night was had by all those in attendance at the VSDCUA Pre-Finals dinner held at Sandy by the Bay on Tuesday 3rd March. We were delighted to have Ruth Hall from Community Bank Malvern East, our major sponsor, present. The event saw a new Life Member installed, 3 new members added to the VSDCUA '200 Club, the Matt Harris Award for 'Most Improved Umpire' announced (unfortunately the winner was an apology) and the inaugural awarding of the Brian Goodman Award for the 'B

A couple of major milestones were achieved by Colin Newport who umpired his 400 th  game alongside Chris Stevens who notched up his 100 th  Subbies game.  Thanks to the Preston and Ormond teams for joining in the celebration of these achievements. C Congratulations to Paul Loughrey who will be nominated for Life Membership at our next AGM, as a result of umpiring his 150 th  game.  Paul has had a big season and recently did his 100 th  1st XI game.   And Rudy Fernandes, Peter

During our monthly meeting held at Spotswood Cricket Club on 18 February, Dr. Geoff Hart, Deputy Chairman and Cricket Operations Manager of the VSDCA, announced the Board's appointment of David Stein as the VSDCA Umpire Coach for the upcoming two seasons. The appointment was well received, and we look forward to working with David in his new role. David Stein being congratulated on his appointment by VSDCUA President Colin Newport David is no stranger to Subbies, as he was a

Our dedicated secretary, Rudy, has been actively working to build an even stronger relationship with our major sponsor, Community Bank, Malvern East . We are pleased to announce the introduction of teardrop banners displaying our sponsors' logos, which were effectively utilised at Ormond during Round 13. #communitybankmalverneast #bendigobankmalverneast #vsdcua #vsdca Milestones for this round featured Neill Murray attaining VSDCUA ‘200 Club’ membership, whilst running the sh

Ray Stokes & Ken French The 2025/26 J.G. Craig competition reached its conclusion on February 8 with Brunswick and Oakleigh squaring off in the Final. Congratulations to Ken French and Ray Stokes on their appointment to this game. As anticipated, they both demonstrated their worthiness for the role and did an excellent job managing the game. Congratulations to Brunswick on winning the final. And to one of our colleagues, John Doig, who swapped his umpire hat for an Oakleig

A major milestone event was achieved by Bill Finnigan reaching 400 VSDCA games, which has previously been reported on in this forum.  Bill even got his name up in lights, with a scoreboard tribute to his milestone. Congratulations again to Bill, and his achievement was also celebrated by the Taylors Lakes and Williamstown teams, whom we thank for joining in! Also celebrating a milestone this round was Peter Riddell, who marked his 100th VSDCA game alongside Brendan Schutt in

A big shout-out to one of the VSDCUA’s most popular umpires, Bill Finnigan, who will officiate his 400th VSDCA game in Round 12, alongside his partner in crime, Gary White, in the 1st XI clash between Taylors Lakes and Williamstown. Bill started his career with Subbies back in Season 2001. Highlights along the way are achieving both VSDCUA Life and 200 Club memberships, membership of the VSDCA 200 Club and a swag of finals which are listed below. And to top it all off he

One of our colleagues Michael Moore has kept himself busy when not involved in cricket. He has penned a powerful true story about two boys growing up in the tough inner suburbs of Melbourne—one surrounded by family, the other left to face the world alone . We will have 2 copies of this book (signed by the Author) as raffle prizes at our End of Season Dinner on 3rd of March 2026. If you can't wait until then to read it click here to purchase a copy via Amazon. #WheresYaDad #

To all Panel and Club Umpires, you are cordially invited to attend the VSDCUA End of Season Dinner which is to be held at Sandy by the Bay (Trevor Barker Beach Oval) Beach Rd, Sandringham on Tuesday 3rd March 2026, commencing at 7.00pm. Guests are also welcome. Please note that to ensure our catering requirements are correct we require payment by no later than the 20th of February 2026 . Payment CAN NOT be accepted on the night.

Happy New Year and welcome back to the second half of the season. Round 9   The first in a series of three rounds of one-day matches featured some impressive milestones.   Bill Keenan (as reported in a previous post) was the star, reaching his 300th Subbies game—a remarkable achievement that complements the 200 Second XI games milestone he reached in Round 5. Michael Moore Michael Moore also celebrated by umpiring his 150th 1st XI match.  Well done, Michael.   Round 10   This

Congratulations go out to one of the stalwarts of our panel, Bill Keenan, who has reached a couple of significant milestones this season. As reported back in Round 5, Bill ticked off his 200th 2nd XI game with Lalith Chandrasena and in Round 9 it was his 300th VSDCA game, when he umpired alongside James Barrett, in the 2nd XI fixture between Croydon and Altona Bill is both a VSDCUA Life and '200 Club' member, having umpired his games across the following grades.: Pennant Game

Round 6  update - Apologies to Steve Luscombe one of our Werribee Club Umpires - news of his 50th game milestone slipped through to the keeper. Well done Steve. Round 7  and you guessed it the weather led to some matches being reduced to 1 day affairs.  This round featured several notable milestones with the achievements of Noki and Graham reported on in more detail in posts on our social media sites. Noki Tryphonos - 450th game. Francis Henry Graham Hill – 200 th  game Fra

Another significant milestone was achieved in Round 8 when Brendan Schutt umpired his 100th game in Subbie's, alongside his colleague Ray Butterfield in the 1st XI fixture between Ivanhoe and Coburg. A calm and composed individual, he is a wonderful person to umpire alongside and consistently provides excellent support to his fellow umpire. Well done Brendan!

Paul Loughrey being acknowledged by the Altona & Taylors Lakes players. Congratulations to Paul Loughrey, who, after an enforced break in his Subbies career due to a significant health issue, finally got to celebrate his 100th 1st XI game. Paul achieved the milestone when he teamed up with Noki Tryphonos in the Round 8 match between Taylors Lakes and Altona. Paul is a very personable individual and offers excellent support to whoever he is umpiring with. Well done Paul on rea

Since 1972 the VSDCUA have awarded a trophy to the best player in each section of the J.G. Craig Under 15 competition and also in its forerunner the R.M. Hatch Under 14 competition. Starting with the next edition of this marquee VSDCA event, these awards will be named to recognise umpires who have provided not only long, but exceptional service to the VSDCA. The committee called for nominations from the members and after careful consideration the following members were select

Noki Tryphonos, who is now in his 28th year of service to Subbie's umpired his 450th game  with Jeremy Anthony in Round 8 of the North West Sunday fixture between St Bernard's and Preston. And our thanks go out to both teams for joining in the celebrations and presenting him with one of the match balls, which was a fabulous gesture. Noki with the St Bernard's & Preston players celebrating his 450th VSDCA game His Subbies games, combined with the 276 he umpired in the Metropol

Congratulations to Graham Hill, the newest member of the '200 Club.' He achieved this milestone during the Round 7 1st XI match between Moorabbin and Strathmore, where he officiated alongside Leigh Wyatt. This is another honour for Graham, who was also awarded Life Membership of our Association in 2023. Since joining our team in 2013 after a long career in the VTCA, Graham has consistently performed at a high standard which has seen him apart from 7 games, umpire all his matc