IT’S NO STROLL IN THE PARK

“I certainly wouldn’t be underestimating the standard of cricket. It’s not going to be a cakewalk for us or for me. I’m not buying any of that.” — RICHIE OLIVER

GEELONG City’s English import Richie Oliver has scoffed at suggestions he will walk all over GCA2 bowlers this season, labelling the talk “bull dust”.

As Oliver (pictured) and the relegated Sharks prepare for tomorrow’s season opener against Highton, the elegant left-hander stressed that claims he could make 1500 runs this summer were wide of the mark.

“I reckon that’s bull dust,” Oliver said of suggestions he would double the 839 runs he made in 13 GCA1 matches last season.

“It’s a lot harder to go down than it is to go up. The higher you go, there’s a better standard of wickets and bowlers, in theory. (But) there’s the unpredictability of going down. I think it only makes it harder, to be honest.

“I certainly wouldn’t be underestimating the standard of cricket. It’s not going to be a cakewalk for us or for me, I wouldn’t have thought. I’m not buying any of that.”

Oliver admitted the club’s demotion from GCA1 had hurt “massively”.

“It is disappointing, especially after signing Pat Richards,” he said.

“I thought we’d challenge to get in the finals in Division 1, so it hurts, but at the end of the day you still play for your club and it’s still a great place to be and a great place to play cricket in Geelong.”

Having played a handful of T20 matches with Premier club Geelong last season, Oliver was rumoured to be in talks with the Cats about returning to Kardinia Park full time.

But the former Worcestershire opening batsman said, despite speculation, he was always playing at Richmond Crescent.

“No one came knocking, but I wasn’t surprised either because everyone knows my loyalty to City,” Oliver said.

“It’s been eight years now and it’s my club. I love it.

“If I was still playing professional cricket, I would’ve had to have looked at my options, but that ship has sailed.

“I’m only 29, so it’s not like I haven’t got long left on the shelf. Hopefully we can get back into Division 1 and push to get back into the finals up there.”

Set to skipper the Sharks for an eighth-straight season, Oliver said a first XI flag was not the sole objective in 2019-20.

“If it all comes down to club championship points, then we’ll be looking to win the club championship,” Oliver said.

“That’s the only goal, really. If that’s what it takes to get back up, that’s what we need to do.

“Everyone’s goal is to win a premiership, but we want to get back into Division 1 as soon as possible.

“We’re looking at the bigger picture. We’re aiming to build for years to come and make sure we play the brand of cricket that will be competitive in Division 1 if and when we go back up.

“The reason we’re in Division 2 is we couldn’t find consistency in the lower grades. Our seconds won the flag and we were a couple of games out of the finals in the firsts, so we’re not there because our top two grades are no good.

“We’ve taken steps to address that.

“Personally, I’m really disappointed because, as a club, we’ve sent more players down to Geelong than anybody else in the last few years.

“Stats-wise, our ground produced more runs and wickets than any other ground in Geelong last year. Our juniors are thriving and our club has gone down because our lower grades couldn’t put enough club championship points on the board.

“To me, that’s a pretty ordinary system and it’s something that might get looked at with the new board. It certainly doesn’t make sense to me.”