Tom O’Connell, Brody Couch and Dom McGlinchey highlight key departures from Geelong Cricket Club
Geelong Cricket Club’s bowling stocks have taken a hit before the looming season but a former skipper has returned to help guide a new generation of Cats.
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There will be bowling opportunities aplenty at Geelong Cricket Club this summer following the departure of several key players in Brody Couch, Tom O’Connell and Dom McGlinchey.
However, former Cats skipper and state-contracted southpaw Eammon Vines has returned to the club after two years in Tasmania while Essex bowling allrounder Aaron Beard arrives in early November.
With the Premier season starting on October 7, O’Connell has returned to South Australia, Couch defected to Northcote while McGlinchey has retired.
Director of cricket Travis Agg told the Geelong Advertiser the trio’s departure would create opportunities, especially in the bowling ranks for spinners like young chinaman Callum Stow.
“(O’Connell) going means more overs for ‘Stowie’, and we think Stowie is one of the best spin bowlers coming through at the moment in the state,” Agg said.
“We’re pretty excited to give him more exposure and more responsibility.
“We think our bowling might catch people off guard ... our bowling isn’t going to be ultra experienced.
“Some people might get some overs that they haven’t necessarily got in the past, which will be awesome for their development.
“We’re looking forward to a bit of a changing of the guard so to speak.
“Giving our young players an opportunity for it to become their team, while we’ve still got the experience of (Hayden) Butterworth and Josh McDonald and Eammon supporting that transition.”
Agg said while the squad would have a more even blend of youth and experience in 2023/24, there was still an expectation to win games of cricket after finishing 14th last summer.
Agg highlighted Stow, Thomas Neate, Josh Garner, Josh Larkin, Daanish Mehta, Oliver Peake, Liam Blackford, Ryan Aikman, Henry Melville and Lachlan Field as the future.
“It’s not about them going to the next level, but continuing to expose them to the highest level,” he said.
“We’ve got all these young players who are craving opportunity.
“They won’t play every game I wouldn’t have though, but they’re going to get opportunities.”
With a younger squad, Agg said there would be more of a focus on education and steer away from an environment where the senior coach was the only source for advice and was considered “the oracle”.
Agg was also excited to have Vines back to the club after two years away in Tasmania, who will act as a batting and high performance mentor.
“A former professional cricketer coming back to Geelong is unbelievably great for us as a club,” he said.
“It says heaps about him as a person, wanting to come back and really support our emerging talent.
“We’ve got so many young, high performing kids, we need some support around them.
“He’s really keen to work with those guys and help them become better people and players.
“It’s perfect, really.
“He sees the value of giving back to the experiences when he was a young captain through guys like Andrew McDonald and ‘Finchy’ and Tim Ludeman.
“He sees our club in a similar situation to when he took over as captain.”
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Originally published as Tom O’Connell, Brody Couch and Dom McGlinchey highlight key departures from Geelong Cricket Club
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