Shark strikes with ton
LUKE INGLIS may have made a belated start to his return GCA season, but the 21 year old has taken only two games to announce himself as a significantly improved player after Saturday’s brilliant 151 against North Geelong. First playing for the Sharks as a 16 year old in 2014-15, the Colac District Cricket Association product spent two years at Richmond Crescent before testing himself across consecutive summers at Premier Cricket level with Geelong. With a previous best GCA1 score of 46, Inglis’s 267-minute stay against the Magpies sent a signal to competing clubs. He talks about the ton and his time at Geelong WES CUSWORTH: As I watched you carve out last week’s 151 against North Geelong, there was a discernible increase in your power and confidence at the crease.
LUKE INGLIS: I suppose that as you get a bit older you get to know your game a bit better and what you can and what you can’t do. Experience is about knowing your game and what works for you.
WC: You’ve clearly benefited from your two seasons at Geelong.
LI: Absolutely, it was awesome, I loved it. We were all pretty young and it’s a really good culture, I was among a really exciting group of players. It’s full on, it’s good cricket. I couldn’t make the commitment at the moment. I learnt a lot off Liam Buchanan, who was batting coach at the time, and also “Borra” (Andre Borovec) was head coach and he was awesome. You also learn by watching guys like Eamonn Vines and Tim Ludeman.
WC: So you came back in Round 4, what was the reason behind the late start to the season?
LI: The commitment of travelling to Melbourne games from Colac was a bit much, but then I got itchy feet a few weeks in. I just thought for this year I might take a step back and then reassess at the end of the year and then see if I wanted to go back to Geelong or stick around in the GCA.
WC: How does Saturday’s innings compare with some of your other big knocks?
LI: I think my last 100 was back when I was 16, it was good to make it a big one.
WC: It was also against a very good side, Tom Mathie- son has a great reputation with the ball, Shaun Kingwell gives you nothing and Andrew Fergusson had come off a bag of wickets the week before. How did you prepare yourself going in against an attack like that?
LI: They were a disciplined team, they bowled to their field all day. It was a bit of a grind really. It was a bit of an upand-down wicket, but then it played dead and low. I think I played and missed a few times off “Matho”, luck was on my side, I suppose. You take it when you can get it.
WC: Are you the sort of player who gets nervous when you close in on a century?
LI: I didn’t really know to be honest. I was in the zone. You maybe know in the back of your mind, but it’s not a priority.
WC: How hard going was it once you had passed the ton, concentration wise?
LI: It was much the same, I nudged them around all day.
WC: What’s it like getting back to playing with the likes of Richie Oliver and Adam Marsland?
LI: They were happy to see my improvement, while I’ve been really pleased to play with guys like Logan Taylor and Cody Brogden because I reckon they’re going to be real good cricketers. They’re both really exciting players. I think Logan is going to be up there getting around as one of the better ones in the GCA when he’s older, if he doesn’t decide to head to Geelong. That’s what you want them to do, go and play at a higher level if they can. It’s all about work ethic once you make that decision, because talent will only get you so far.
WC: Was there any difference evident in Geelong City’s approach to the game since you were there the first time?
LI: No, it’s all the same, they’re still heading in the same direction. Mark Worthington was coach when I was there and “Ranga” (Aaron Randall) was assistant and then he just sort of transitioned in. They’re a really good bunch of blokes there, who get along with each other and are happy to play cricket together.
WC: As you sit two wins and two losses on the eve of a crucial fifth-round match being decided, what is captain Richie Oliver saying to the troops?
LI: Just be ruthless. It could come down to percentage later in the season, so he is encouraging us to be ruthless if we get the chance to be. That’s the message for everyone in the team, do what you can to make the most runs or take lots of wickets. The evenness just shows what a good competition it is.