LOCAL CRICKET WRAP
DASHING Geelong batsman Josh McDonald is close to scoring a destructive ton, after carving up Casey-South Melbourne with a rapid half-century in Saturday’s 29-run win.
That is according to Cats coach Tim Ludeman, who also passed 50 as his side notched its first victory of the Victorian Premier Cricket season.
McDonald was at his hardhitting best at the run-friendly Geelong Cricket Ground, blasting 72 from 60 at No.4.
The right-hander struck seven boundaries and three monster sixes to help Geelong post a matchwinning 284.
In reply, Casey-South Melbourne took the fight up to the Cats, stretching the match to 50 overs, but fell short.
Ludeman lauded the innings of McDonald, who added to his run-a-ball 36 against Camberwell last week with an eye-catching performance.
“He did the same thing as he did last week,” Ludeman said of McDonald.
“He came in and struck it at a rapid clip and he can change the momentum of a game and swing it in your favour pretty quickly.
“That’s one of his great attributes. If you’re struggling or battling along, he can bring the game back in your favour and he did that really well ( on Saturday).
“Hopefully he can turn this good form into a big hundred, because he’s hitting them really nicely.”
Once a hit-or-miss player, Ludeman believes McDonald is beginning to bridge the gap between his best and worst.
“He’s getting older and wiser and I think you can see that in the way that he trains,” Ludeman said. “That’s been a big feature of his game this year. He’s obviously aggressive, naturally, so when he spends some time in the middle he can change a game, but the way he trains has been a lot different.
“He’s starting to hit the ball later and he’s more focused on being in control, rather than blazing away. That’s been a highlight.”
Setting a total of 285, Geelong had contributions from its top four, with Mitch Reid the lowest with 13 at the top.
Skipper Eamonn Vines continues to pile up the runs, making his second-consecutive score of 80-plus with a gritty 85 from 108 balls at No.3.
Vines combined with Ludeman (63 from 65) for an 87-run stand as the Cats gained control of the match.
When Ludeman fell, McDonald came in and upped the anti, crunching 70 of his 121run stand with Vines.
Geelong lost traction when McDonald and Vines departed, losing 7-55, but Ludeman was confident his side had enough runs on the board.
The Swans were gallant in the chase, with Devin Pollock a rock at the top with 55 from 80 deliveries, but the Cats closed the game out strongly.
“Across the board, we were better than Round 1,” Ludeman said. “Our execution was a highlight. We put an emphasis on that and the boys executed well, especially in the back end of the innings where we struggled the week before.
“Dom McGlinchey was awesome and Brody Couch was very good from a quicks point of view, but the experience of (Hayden) Butterworth was valuable with his tweakers and Blainy (Joel Blain) backed up his performance from Round 1 as well.”