Youngsters take step forward for Geelong in Dowling Shield and Marg Jennings Cup

The Dowling Shield and Marg Jennings Cup saw some of the brightest talents in Victoria hit it out last week and here are the Geelong names who starred.

Heidi Schneider at the crease for Geelong in the Marg Jennings Cup. Picture: Brad Fleet

Some of the brightest cricket talents in the region fast-tracked their development and put their hands up as names to watch as Geelong Cricket Club played through boys and girls representative matches last week.

While Dowling Shield under-17 boys and Marg Jennings Cup under-18 girls sides battled at times during the week, some highly talented teens showed signs of improvement.

Bianca Deckker cuts against Box Hill. Picture: Brad Fleet

Leopold and Barwon Heads product Chantal Mason showed off her improved control to lead Geelong with the ball in the girls side, grabbing nine wickets, including a haul of 6-22 against Greenvale Kangaroos.

Cats women’s director of coaching Stephen Field said leading run-getter Annabelle Glossop and Colac product Sienna Mallon also impressed.

Field also highlighted the work of Bianca Deckker in captaining the side while holding down opening batting and wicketkeeping jobs.

“Chantal is really competitive, she has been doing well in the first team (for Geelong) … she had some issues earlier in the season with control and she has worked really hard at that,” Field said.

Chantal Mason batting in 2021. Picture: David Smith.

“(Umpires) are fairly tough on wides at this level of the game, which they have to be, and she has worked really hard on her game.

“Annabelle Glossop, it was good to see her get some runs one of the days (42 against Ringwood) she is obviously a really talented young player and she is just coming to terms with how to manage an innings.

“Sienna Mallon is another one … she is a really dynamic fielder who bowls decent offies and we think can be a good middle-over bat in the future.”

Henry Bensch lets one go. Picture: Brad Fleet

In the Dowling Shield, Ballarat youngster Zane Attard belted an unbeaten 85 not out against Casey-South Melbourne and took six wickets across the four matches to lead Geelong in both wickets and runs.

Marley McCoombe ranked second for runs with 104 at an average of 26, while Elwood Geary and Henry Bensch each took four wickets.

The Cats boys went 2-2 in four matches, with a final fixture to come against St Kilda on January 29.

The girls went 1-3 to finish eighth on the table but Field said the experience of facing strong opponents would put the young squad that was led by coaches Grace Lee and Jess Field in good stead.

Noah Greene in action. Picture: Brad Fleet

“Most of the teams they played against had a number of Premier firsts players in their teams so for the majority of teams that was eye opening for us,” Field said.

“One of the reasons we wanted to play Premier firsts was because when you are exposed to the standard every week you definitely improve.

“It was really good to see some pretty highly credentialed players and work out strategies to combat them with their bowling, that is really good.”

Originally published as Youngsters take step forward for Geelong in Dowling Shield and Marg Jennings Cup