Cats bring on second debutant

GEELONG will unveil a second debutant in as many weeks as it bids for a breakthrough win against Frankston Peninsula tomorrow.

The Cats have named legspinner Billy Hyde to play his maiden first XI game, replacing the unavailable veteran allrounder Brenton McDonald.

Geelong collapsed to lose by 18 runs against Northcote last week, while Frankston went down by seven wickets to Dandenong.

“It’s a big moment in our season given we lost Round 1,” Cats coach Andre Borovec said. “We’re looking to bounce back. It’s a home game, too, and we want to be hard to play against on our home ground, and we’ve got another opportunity this week because we’re not quite there yet.”

Borovec has resisted the urge to draft gun wicketkeeper batsman Tom Jackson into the side, despite his matchwinning 70 in the Cats’ seconds.

“We certainly considered him and we think he’s ready. He’s performed well, so there’s no reason for us to think that just because of his birth certificate he’s not ready,” Borovec said. “. . . We looked at him but we didn’t want to make a kneejerk reaction with our batting after one round.”

Borovec is wary of Frankston’s bowling attack, which possesses plenty of variety.

“Ben Ashkenazi is fast and Jackson Mockett is a tall, rightarm seamer who takes the ball away from the right-hander . . . and Jack Benbow is an experienced left-arm orthodox bowler who puts a fair bit of side spin on the ball. They’ve got experience and pace.”

Geelong First XI v Frankston Peninsula: E. Vines (c), N. Alexander, A. Boyd, B. Hyde, K. Jamieson, T. Ludeman, J. McDonald, D. McGlinchey, L. Muller, M. Reid, T. Treble.