Run machine gets the call-up
SECOND XI GUN IN FOR VINES
HE has not played a First X1 Premier match all season.
But Geelong youngster Jack Riding (pictured) is preparing to enter the cauldron of grade cricket after earning a call-up for the Cats’ semi-final clash against Dandenong on Saturday.
Riding, who has piled on more than 700 runs in Geelong’s Second XI, will replace injured skipper Eamonn Vines in the team that is one victory away from a grand final berth. Vines had surgery to repair a ruptured testicle, forcing the Cats to look to Riding to open the batting on debut at Geelong Cricket Ground.
INJURED skipper Eamonn Vines has declared Geelong has his ideal replacement and has backed Jack Riding to deliver in his debut.
No player in Premier Cricket this season has scored more Second XI runs than Riding’s 706, which have come at an average of 50.43.
The opener is such a perfect fit to replace Vines — who also opens the batting and has belted the most runs of any First XI Premier player in 2020-21 — that the skipper said he had spoken to Riding during the summer and joked that if he was sidelined for any reason, Riding would be an ideal replacement. That plan has been called upon ahead of the biggest game of the summer, a semi-final against Dandenong in which the winner will move into the decider next week, with Vines out after rupturing a testicle on Saturday.
“Now that I am out, we basically have the perfect guy to replace me because he has made a lot of runs and he plays the same role,” Vines said.
“I think he is definitely ready. He has made a lot of runs in Second XI cricket.”
Riding’s consistency has stood out.
He has been dismissed for a single-figure score only twice from 16 innings this summer, a campaign that has included four half-centuries and a standout 133 not out against Casey-South Melbourne.
He will slot in at the top of the order alongside allrounder Hayden Butterworth.
The Ballarat native has risen through the grades in his three seasons at Geelong and Vines said he had been impressed with Riding’s work rate.
“He is ultra-consistent. I think he has worked really hard at his game in the last two years and I think his work ethic stands out,” Vines said of Riding.
“I can’t think of anyone that has worked so hard and put so many runs on the board to earn this position.
“I think as a club we are lucky to have a player like that be able to step up.
“He has earnt it and I am sure he can play a good role in getting us the win.
“I am really confident that he can come in and do a really good job.”
I THINK AS A CLUB WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE A PLAYER LIKE THAT BE ABLE TO STEP UP. HE HAS EARNED IT AND I AM SURE HE CAN PLAY A GOOD ROLE IN GETTING US THE WIN.” CATS SKIPPER EAMONN VINES ON REPLACEMENT JACK RIDING (LEFT)