Geelong wins Marg Jennings Cup as young guns announce themselves

A host of talented young cricketers put themselves on the map during the Marg Jennings Cup. See the emerging players to watch out for.

The successful Geelong side who took out the Marg Jennings Cup. Picture: Supplied

Geelong took out the U15 Marg Jennings Cup off the back of some stunning performances from a host of stars of the future.

The Cats were comfortable victors in the final over Prahran at Jubilee Park in Ringwood, winning by 61 runs after setting a strong total of 163 in the first innings.

Dunkeld product Grace Potter was the standout in the final, topscoring with 43 before claiming 2-21 with the ball, finishing as the player of the match.

It capped a brilliant campaign for Potter, who scored the fifth most runs for the tournament with 179 and was also the equal-third highest wicket-taker with eight scalps.

Geelong captain Eve Righetti was the leading wicket-taker of the Marg Jennings Cup with 11 wickets at an average of 9.2, including staggering figures of 5-2 against Plenty Valley.

That match epitomised their dominance throughout the tournament, skittling the hapless Plenty Valley for just 20.

Player of the final Grace Potter and coach Jess Field with the Marg Jennings Cup. Picture: Supplied

Geelong under-15 coach Jess Field also highlighted opening batters Clover McIlwaine and Ruby Flett, who hit 33 in the final, and spinner Alexandra Croft as other standout performers.

Croft ranked third for total wickets with nine and dismissed two Prahran batters in the final.

Field said Potter and Righetti would be right in the running for player of the tournament honours.

“I’d say Eve Righetti would be a good shout in there, so would Grace Potter actually. They’ve both had great tournaments,” Field said.

“I was over the moon for the girls, I think they performed so well all tournament to go undefeated and to take out the win in the grand final was just unreal.

It was a bit of an easier game I would say but we were pretty nervous going into it, you could tell a lot of the players were pretty nervous but took the win quite comfortably in the end.

The girls celebrated with a photo of them tensing with their guns out, an inside joke Field isn’t quite sure about.

“I honestly have no idea, I think a bunch of the girls are just talking that it is “bulking season” or something like that,” Field said with a laugh.

“I don’t know where that’s come from but just let them do their thing.”

Field believes a number of players from the premiership winning side will come into Premier Cricket calculations in the future, with Righetti already making her debut in first grade.

FIVE STARS TO WATCH IN THE FUTURE

Eve Righetti

“With the ball, in the field and with the bat as well, of course she bowled well but she is also a very talented batter and fielder as well. I definitely think if she keeps working as she is, there is a bright future ahead for her,” Field said.

“She plays in our senior side for the twos, she has debuted for the ones. She has got some pace on her when she is behind the ball so she was sending them down pretty quick. She will become a consistent ones player in the future. She works very hard, even after being called off (on Wednesday due to rain) she still came to senior training.

“Her thing was just to bowl at the stumps and it obviously paid off because she is probably one of the fastest bowlers in the competition, so the bowlers aren’t prepared for it.”

Eve Righetti after taking a five-wicket haul earlier in the tournament. Picture: Supplied

Grace Potter

“She’s just played in the twos so far but definitely in the next few years you will see her in the ones soon. She is coming up from Dunkeld so this is her first experience of Premier Cricket but she is going really well in it and from the tournament it is very impressive performance there as well so it won’t be too far away for her,” Field said.

“She is a quite a quick rotator of the strike which is perfect to take the pressure off early on. We found that most games when she was in it took the pressure off the rest of the team.

“Then her bowling is also quite fast, it gets a bit of speed on it – probably not as fast Eve, but she will definitely get there when she grows and develops some more strength.”

Clover McIlwaine

“She opened for us most games and other than the final she performed really well and put on a good partnership and took the pressure off everyone else coming in to bat.” Field said.

Ruby Flett

“Was another good batter in the final, she made 30 odd, had a good partnership with Grace and ran between the wickets really well. Once again taking the pressure off,” Field said.

Alexandra Croft

“An off-spinner who took a few wickets as well in the final and throughout the tournament and had a few good scores with the bat as well, definitely against Greenvale. Put on 30 or 40 off in that game as well,” Field said.

Originally published as Geelong wins Marg Jennings Cup as young guns announce themselves