Preface
History is never stagnant, with every passing moment, history is being added to and Mountain Gate has a long and rich history, dating back to 1947. The below is a summary of our great cricket clubs history and we fully intend on adding far more details this, adding names, occasions, achievements and more, so, keep an eye on this space, it will be constantly evolving and being added to and if you have something to add, send us a message!​

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Origins of the Mountain Gate Cricket Club
The Mountain Gate Cricket Club evolved from the original Lysterfield Cricket Club, which was first established in 1947 and then affiliated with the Ferntree Gully Cricket Association (now Ferntree Gully & District Cricket Association), before the 1948/49 season, where it remained until the conclusion of the 1963/64 season.

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The club was initially formed by three members of the Miller family (Ray, Ken and Bill) and others, from the farming communities south of Ferntree Gully in the suburban area now known as Lysterfield. Well known local sporting fan, Martin ‘Marty’ Alberni donated a paddock of land adjacent to his home on Napoleon Road as a home base for the club.

Alberni’s Paddock was to be the club’s home ground for the next 15 or so seasons, until in early 1962 the Alberni family sold up their market garden property. The sale of the land by Alberni’s resulted in a division of the property and as a consequence the Lysterfield Cricked Club lost its home ground.

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In the 1962/63 and 1963/64 seasons the club continued its affiliation with the the FTGCA however, as a home venue they were a co-tenant of the Kings Park complex at Upper Ferntree Gully. This co-tenancy arrangement was often the subject of disputation throughout these two season and the Lysterfield Cricket Club hierarchy sought assistance from the Shire of Ferntree Gully to re-establish itself at a dedicated home venue.

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At this time the shire was establishing a new housing estate south of the Ferntree Gully Road and Burwood Road (now Highway) intersection. When it was opened for housing occupation, it was called Mountain Gate. Just prior to September 1964, approval was granted by the Shire and the FTGCA, for the Lysterfield Cricket Club to change its name to the Mountain Gate Cricket Club and to relocate its home base to the new H.V. Jones Reserve ( Named after a leading member of the local community Herbert Vernon Jones who passed away in 1963), where the club remains today.

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The rooms at HV Jones were the community hall (the scout hall) and in 79/80 they burnt down. We had some really late nights there after training on Thursdays or Saturday night after the games, the furniture in the rooms was just odd bods and included a vinyl covered couch. We suspect someone left a lit cigarette on the couch which caught fire and burnt the place down. When we came in on Sunday to clean up and it was a smoked shard, the smell was horrible.

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Mt Gate first moved to Windermere Reserve while the clubrooms at H.V. Jones were being rebuilt following a fire. The committee at the time decided Windermere was a growth area, giving the club potential to grow, so when the council developed the ground and rooms they stayed. We still retained use of HV as a second ground. It has been our main backup ground for many years

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H.V. Jones Reserve
The club’s current home ground is H.V. Jones Reserve. Things have changed a lot since the club first moved down there. A fast growing suburb grew up around the oval and the club settled in for a long stay. Originally the rooms were at the scout hall next door, before a bigger structure was built and then extended to accommodate the cricket club, soccer club and netballers.