Tom Jackson departs Geelong and Premier Cricket mid-season
Having now left Geelong Cricket Club, Tom Jackson is headed interstate to resurrect his career but he has strong belief he can get back to the level that earned him a state contract.
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Departing Geelong batter Tom Jackson has “pretty high self-belief that I will get back to where I need to be” as he prepares for a move to South Australia.
Jackson has admitted he didn’t deal with pressure “as I would have liked” in recent seasons after he was hit by a knee injury and his performances waned since earning a Victorian rookie contract.
The middle-order hitter exited Geelong and Premier Cricket mid-season, having played his last game in round 7.
He is yet to lock in a club in Adelaide for him to continue his cricket but is planning to head west later this month to restart his career.
He said he would also return to play in Darwin over the winter months.
Still just 22, Jackson said he was determined to “keep positive and work hard” and was sure he could get back to a professional level.
“I have a pretty high self-belief that I will get back to where I need to be,” he said.
“It’s going to take a bit of hard work. I am doing a fair bit behind the scenes at the moment and I know it will turn. I am trying to enjoy the game, enjoy other people’s successes and let the cricket gods look after me.”
Part of the appeal of an interstate move for Jackson is the chance to take the heat off, after expectations rose quickly for him at Geelong when he belted five centuries early in his career.
“I can just go there and enjoy cricket. It is not just a fresh start in cricket, it is a fresh start in life,” he said.
“I think since a young age I have always dealt with pressure really well but the last couple of years I probably haven’t dealt with it as I would have liked. I am still learning, after six years at Geelong, from where I first started to leaving now, there has been a massive difference in me as player and a person.
“I will always be grateful for that, definitely.”
Jackson said it was difficult to say goodbye to Geelong, having moved from Warrnambool with his father six years ago to pursue his cricket dream.
“I remember coming up as a kid to watch Geelong play when I was still (living) in Warrnambool and I must have been 11 or 12 and I thought ‘to play one game here would be a dream’,” he said.
“All of a sudden, I got a Victorian contract, even when I was 15 or 16, I thought that was nowhere near.
“It all happened really quickly and I over achieved what I imagined but that just made me even hungrier because I didn’t achieve everything I would have liked.”
Tom Jackson quits Geelong mid-season
Former Victorian-contracted batter Tom Jackson has walked out on Geelong Cricket Club mid-season and says he is headed to play in South Australia.
A right-hander on the rise, Jackson earned a state rookie contract in 2020-21 after he burst on the scene at Geelong and made five centuries in his first 17 Premier Cricket first XI games, including a ton in the 2018-19 final.
But after a knee injury and a lack of runs, Victoria did not renew the contract after two seasons, and he has not added to his century tally.
After scoring just 84 runs in five innings to start this season, Geelong director of cricket Travis Agg said a plan was made for Jackson to be sent down to the seconds to find some form but the Warrnambool product baulked at the idea.
Jackson, 22, denied any dispute about being dropped led to his departure and instead he was heading to Adelaide for a “fresh start”.
He hasn’t played since a round 7 clash on December 3 and is planning to head interstate later this month.
“That is my plan at the moment, to get over there and have a fresh start,” he said.
While Jackson said he was “all good” with Geelong, Agg said the club was “disappointed” to lose the talented hard-hitter.
“His performances weren’t probably at a level that he expected and he wasn’t really enjoying cricket,” Agg said.
“He decided that he didn’t want to play after we had a conversation about playing him in the lower XI.
“We were pretty disappointed in how he handled not playing but he needs to do what is best for him and if he doesn’t think playing cricket with us is the best for him, than in reality it’s not the best for us either.
“It’s disappointing because we think we have done a lot for him over the journey and his performances made it pretty difficult to keep selecting him (in the firsts). We had a plan of how we would break the cycle of outs and he wasn’t quite on board with that.”
Agg said Jackson’s departure opened up a batting spot in the side for a youngster like Ollie Peake – who made his first XI debut before Christmas – or star recruit Emilio Gay, who made 52 on debut on Saturday.
Jackson said it was “tough” leaving Geelong after nearly six seasons.
He said he was working through which Adelaide club he would continue his cricket with.
Originally published as Tom Jackson departs Geelong and Premier Cricket mid-season
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