Sport
23 December, 2025
MDCA one-day Grand Final — best on ground
In a team loaded with difference-makers, opener Tom Hart stood head and shoulders above the rest on Saturday, awarded best on ground for his crushing 82 from just 72 balls.
His Grand Final performance is the culmination of an astonishing fortnight that Hart will likely never forget, especially following the run-scoring drought that preceded it.
Heading into this season, Hart had a solidified reputation as one of the most entertaining and aggres-sive openers in the competition, ranking in the MDCA’s A grade top 20 run-scorers in the last two seasons with over 200 runs in back-to-back campaigns.
However, Hart’s boom or bust approach was ineffective in the first eight rounds of 2025/26, averaging 15.8 runs in his first seven innings with a high score of 37 versus Clunes in round one.
After a short stint in the middle order, Hart was promoted back to the top of the lineup in Laane’s last regular-season one-day game against the Magpies.
A total of 13 fours and three sixes later, Hart looked back at his best, notching his first hundred in Laane colours with an unbeaten 105.
Full of confidence heading into Saturday’s white-ball season finale, Hart delivered another marvelous innings, ending on 82 with 11 boundaries.
While somewhat bittersweet for it to come against his boyhood club, Hart said he’s thrilled to add to Laane’s growing trophy cabinet.
“It’s pretty special to me, it’s such a prestigious club that we play for and it’s had so much success, so to be able to contribute to that was really nice,” he said.
“I was pretty light on (runs) in the first six weeks of the year, so just to build a bit of confidence back was really nice and then propel into what is classified as the serious stuff with the two-day cricket.
“Any cricketer, whether you are a batsman or bowler, it’s a confidence game. I think being able to get a few last week feels good just to know you can trust yourself and that your best is good enough.”
Hart started his innings on a nervy note, with a Nick Henderson delivery finding the edge before falling safely just in front of gully.
After shaking out some early cobwebs, Hart began to cement himself with back-to-back fours off Henderson.
From there, it was mostly smooth sailing for Hart and fellow opener Tom Hannett, minus some chal-lenging caught and bowled chances, registering a 99-run partnership inside 16 overs to set the stage for Laane’s convincing run chase.
With plenty of big-match experience, Hart said he and Hannett didn’t change their typical mindset.
“Tom and I have opened the batting for a couple of years together now and I’m generally pretty proactive and Tom’s more our anchor that’s batted through for years,” he said.
“Colts would’ve been pretty clear around what our intent was going to be ... but we know if we can set ourselves up in those first 10 to 15 overs that we can allow our middle order to get to work.
“I grew up with Nick Henderson, who obviously always opens the bowling for the Colts. I was actually saying to Nick today that he’s probably one of the only bowlers in the competition that I get nervous facing, just because he’s had the wood over me since we were about 13.
“We have the confidence that when we do our things right and we get our processes right, that we can chase most totals.”
With 187 runs in his last two knocks, placing him sixth in the competition’s run-scoring charts, Hart said he’s determined to continue his recent form into the red-ball season.
“The two-day cricket is what it’s all about, that’s when the games get a bit more challenging and are a bit more tactical,” he said.
“I’m sure we will enjoy this, but we will quickly turn our focus to red-ball cricket, which is where we are chasing Colts because they won it last year.”