PEAKE OF SUCCESS BECKONS FOR OLLIE
AS one member of the Peake clan steps up, another is preparing to step back.
Rising talent Ollie Peake has told South Barwon he is on his way to Geelong to play Premier Cricket next season.
So what does it mean for Clinton Peake, who returned to the Swans to play with his son?
“That’s an interesting question,” Peake Sr said. “I was playing to play with my kids.
“The younger one, Charlie, will be just a fraction too young next season.
“It might be that I’ve effectively got a gap year.”
Ollie Peake made his First XI debut in Round 3 last season as a 14-year-old and set a new runs record in the VSDCA under-15 John Craig Shield in January.
He made a Second XI appearance for Geelong and looked comfortable at No.3 in his innings of 36 against Casey
South Melbourne.
South Barwon teammates Harry Hauenstein and Henry Melville are also exciting prospects on Geelong’s radar.
Clinton Peake said he was confident Ollie’s “technique will hold up” in Premier Cricket.
“I still think he was underused at South Barwon,” he said.
“We had an agreement to disagree that I thought both Ollie and Henry Melville were better off higher in the order rather than lower — a bit more pace on the ball was what they need.
“Through the thirds (in the GCA), where he did bat at No.3 and the bowlers did bounce him a few more bumpers, he looked really comfortable.
“I thought that would hold true at First XI level. Ben Horne at Leopold sorted him out on a rain-affected pitch but apart from that, he was really not troubled by pace or bounce.”
Peake said Ollie was “bursting” to absorb himself in the Premier environment.
“He said … that he might be able to hire the bowling machine and I said, ‘Mate, you won’t have to hire it, you’ll just have to get a key and you’ll be able to use it’ and his eyes went really wide, like, seriously, I think I might live there,” he said.
“He’s been asking us to get him a bowling machine for the backyard for five years.”