Gus bats way into line-up
ANGUS Boyd has cemented his place in Geelong’s toporder for Friday’s seasonopener against Monash, blasting a century in the Cats’ final practice match.
Boyd made 102 from 92 balls in the intraclub clash on Saturday, locking in the No.5 spot below boom recruit Brenton McDonald.
Geelong coach Andre Borovec said the knock was a timely confidence boost for the batsman eager to line up against the Tigers.
“He played really well and adapted to the conditions,” Borovec said.
“A lot of batsmen will say time at the wicket is the most important thing, and he not only spent time at the wicket, he went about it the right way.
“To be fair, he’s had a bigger preparation than most, being involved in the Vic Country squad. He’s had a lot of batting.
“So to get out there in a proper intraclub game with plenty at stake — there were spots up for grabs — and for him to weather that and make a hundred was impressive.”
Boyd, who played his first season at Geelong in 2015-16 after moving from Hamilton to Ocean Grove, accelerated in the second part of the innings.
“I got a few boundaries away and I started to accelerate a bit more and I felt more comfortable,” he said.
“I got stuck a bit between 50 and 70, and they bowled a bit tighter, and I had to focus on hitting singles but towards the end I had a bit more freedom and I was able to play more shots.”
Boyd has been part of the Victorian batting academy one night a week, working under former Victorian coach Greg Shipperd and star Bushrangers batsman Graeme Rummans.
“They’ve both got a lot of knowledge in the game and they haven’t tried to change the way I play, but more so refine critical defensive stuff and we’ve been doing a lot on the mental side of the game, which has helped me simplify things a lot more,” he said.
“Heading out to the middle on Saturday I had a clear head and I knew how I was going to go about my innings.”
Cats captain Eamonn Vines and Tom Treble, who blasted 60 from 55 balls, also registered half-centuries.
Dom McGlinchey impressed with the new ball, who will likely fight Tom Smith and Dylan Moroney for the same honours on Saturday.
“He took a couple of wickets but he beat the bat a lot early,” Borovec said. “He just impressed with his ability to adapt to the pace of the wicket and he was hard to score off.”
Young off-spinner Leyton Thulborn has also staked a strong claim for a debut cap.
“Leyton impressed with the ball,” Borovec said.
“He bowled a lot to Gus (Boyd), who was scoring freely, and Leyton impressed us with his cool and calm approach. He was backing his skills, despite Gus being in good form.”