WISE VINES GIVES CATS WINNING EDGE
GEELONG coach Andre Borovec has hailed the emerging captaincy of Eamonn Vines after the Cats held their nerve to knock off Monash in a gripping Premier battle that went the journey.
Cats bowling all-rounder Dom McGlinchey struck in back-to-back balls in the 104th over to end Monash’s innings on 306 after a day of ebbs and flows, six runs short of Geelong’s 312 total on a fast-scoring Geelong Cricket Ground.
The narrow win, which leaves Geelong in seventh place on the ladder, capped the perfect game for the fit-again McGlinchey, who made 44 valuable lower-order runs last week and backed it up with five wickets on Saturday.
“The feedback from the players was that we kept our cool out there, we set really smart fields and Eamonn, through his captaincy all day, was terrific,” Borovec said.
“He really showed his development in leadership and tactics, which is a critical thing to have at our ground, because it’s a fast-scoring ground.
“When you’ve got that balance between taking wickets (and saving runs) — 300 runs is not a lot in 96 overs on our ground — to be able to look for wickets and limit their scoring was a real testament to his captaincy.
“To see us bowl 104 overs meant we kept coming in pur- suit of 10 wickets. That’s a really commendable thing for a captain to manage during the day.
“It was proper Premier cricket. Limiting runs and taking wickets and of course you don’t win unless you take the 10 wickets, so the art of captaincy is really tested there and Eamonn has again proven he is developing that skill every game.”
Monash resumed Saturday at 0-22 and McGlinchey struck early, removing Daniel Sartori for 15. The Cats set a goal for three wickets inside the first session — and they got them — but both sides had a grip on the ascendancy throughout the day.
Andrew Chalkley (55) was the rock at No. 3 before Marcus Berryman (69) threatened to take the game away before the Cats grabbed his crucial wicket at 8-246 when he hit a catch to Nathan Alexander off Luke Muller’s bowling.
“(McGlinchey) looked really dangerous all day,” Borovec said.
“Bowled around the wicket really well to their left-handers, which is something you have to do at this level to force 10 wickets, so he’s really added that string to his bow.
“To not just bowl around the wicket to exist, but to take wickets too, it’s a tough skill. You’ve got to balance your line and your length really carefully.”
The Cats employed a pacespin bowling tandem all day, with Brenton McDonald the anchor at the other end, bowling 39 overs (4-85).
“Dom and Brenton taking nine wickets between them was a real class effort,” he said.