Reed off long run in return
IT was a sight to warm the hearts of the Geelong faithful — a fully fit Jake Reed thundering the ball down at the Northcote batsman.
It has been more than 12 months since Reed bowled a ball in anger for the Cats, having played three games in the thirds last season after multiple operations and a lengthy stint on the sidelines.
But the Victorian speedster was a welcome asset for the Cats, who continued preparations for the Victorian Premier Cricket season with a doubleheader of practice matches against the Dragons in Numurkah at the weekend.
“Big ‘JK’ bowled really well,” Cats coach Liam Buchanan said.
“He bowled fast, so that was encouraging to see.
“It was good to have him back and he bowled well in both spells on both days.
“He got one or two wickets from eight or nine overs on Saturday and he got a couple of wickets and had a few dropped catches in the T20 on Sunday.”
With Reed and fellow Victorian Eamonn Vines in the line-up, Geelong carried a strong group of firsts and seconds players north.
Only Brenton McDonald and young quick Brodie Couch were missing.
“It was a strong list and we had two competitive games,” Buchanan said.
“We didn’t win either, but we weren’t really focused on winning the games.
“It was about the process and giving the guys some time in the middle. A few of the boys batted twice and it wasn’t an overly serious practice match.
“It was serious enough that the players went hard, but it was more of a blowout for the boys. Bowling out in the middle is very important for the quicks and hitting a few balls for the batters, and we had some good performances from some of our younger blokes.”
Limping to 9-220, Geelong was outgunned by Northcote in Saturday’s 50-over fixture.
“We probably got the worst of the conditions, it (pitch) was a little bit underdone,” Buchanan said.
“We were 4-30. We lost Eamonn, Tim Ludeman, (Josh) McDonald and Gus Boyd all cheaply.
“Eamonn left one about two feet outside off stump and it seamed back and knocked his leg stump out of the ground.
“Our lower order did well, led well by Hayden Butterworth who got 30-odd and (Tom) Treble and (Tyler) Larkin who both got 60s.
“The pitch flattened out a little bit and we started a bit slowly, bowling on both sides of the wicket. They were 0-130 and we had them 7-180.
“Our spinners bowled well and our quicks came back on bowled decent second spells.”
The Cats open the season on October 6 against Melbourne at Geelong Cricket Ground.