[Article] Clinton Peake
Phil Shead
By Geoff Davie in the Geelong Advertiser February 25
Clinton Peake reckons his clubmates form a queue whenever he
steps into the practice nets at West Kardinia Park.
It has nothing to do with them givinf the young batting star an
extra workout - they are looking to pick up a cheap wicket.
Peake rates himself one of the "worst net batters" at Geelong
and believes he has a lot of improving to do.
"I just use to go out all the time", he said this week.
"I couldn`t play spin. I couldn`t play (legspinner) Brad Stacey,
I didn`t know which way it was spinning. I`d just keep going
out."
Thos comments don`t quite stack up against the form the left-
handed whizz kid has produced in his first full season of senior
cricket.
Apart from 579 runs in 14 hits in district firsts - at an
impressive average of 41.3 - Peake has virtually played non-stop
cricket since he finished his VCE studies at Geelong College in
November.
Two state second XI games (top score 55 against New South
Wales), half a dozen Victorian Institute of Sport matches (96
against South Australia), Victorian under 19s (76 v Tasmania), an
under 21 Colts game (10 and, oops, a rare golden duck) in Sydney
and even a match for a combined public schools team (a quickfire
hundred) have been on the Peake agenda in season 1994-95.
And it is by no means over. This week he left on a month-long
tour with the Australian under 19s who are hosting a series of
three Test matches and three one-day matches against a visiting
Indian team. His first taste of "international" cricket comes
today, day one of the First Test aat Mt Gambier.
Peake, who at 17 is still eligble to play under 19s next season
just cannoyt get enough cricket, it seems. His eyes would
probably light up if someone pulled out a bat and a ball in the
middle of Moorabool Street!
Peake, himself, is fairly laid back about the workload.
"I`ve played a lot, but there`s nothing else I`d be doing, so I
may as well play cricket as sit around homee," he said.
"I like going to the beach and that, but I`ve still gone down to
the beach enough to keep me happy, so there`s nothing else I
really want to do."
He also knows the more you play, the quicker you learn.
VIC coach Dav Whatmore calls it "fast-tracking", cramming two or
three seasons into one to realise potential that little bit
earlier.
Geelong coach Ian Redpath is also confident the extras work wil
help.
"You can`t get enough at that age", the former Australian vice-
captain said.
"I hope he continues to improve, which he will the more he plays
and the better (competition) he plays against. He`ll just
subconsciously improve."
Victorian Cricket Association coaching manager Ashley Ross is
another who believes Peake will beneift from great experience.
"He`s happy and easy going but he`s got the competitive switch
when the game is on," Ross said.
Peake`s philosophy is simple. He enjoys what he is doing.
"The higher you play, the more you play, the more fun it is," he
said.
"Geelong`s been the best cricket I`ve ever played, it`s been the
most fun, anywhere.
Part of that great atmosphere is to do with the success Geelong
has had at District level this season.
After the shock of its initial taste of life at the top when it
wilted in the second half of 1993-94, the Cats now sit second on
the ladder as the finals draw tantalisingly closer.
Peake has played no small role in that and he will be sorely
missed in the latter stages of the season, with the under 19s
commitment forcing him away from District cricket until after the
semi-finals.
"There`s not much you can do about it. You`re not going to say
no (to the tour)," Peake said.
"I just hope they get in the grand final."
He modestly added that he probably wouldn`t be missed too much
with the likes of 16-year-old Tim Anderson doing well on debut
against Melbourne two weeks ago, but he would have few backing up
that statement.
Peake had not been born when coach Redpath finished his first
class career, but the youngster credits the Geelong mentor with
improving his game this season.
"I`d say (I`ve improved) through Redders mainly just
straightening me up," he said.
"So where I used to hit through point, now hitting through cover
and, hopefully, by next year I`ll be hitting through mid-off.
"I`m just a lot tighter in defence, I`m not nicking it as much
as I used to. So there`s still a lot I can work on and we are
working on it down at Geelong."
It all gets back to that net practice and it may well pay for
those who see him as an easy target now to get in while the going
is good.
"They all smash me when I bowl to them, so I`ve got to try to
repay the favour," Peake said.
CLINTON HAS A SPECIAL AFFINITY FOR THE BAT.
By Geoff Davie in the Geelong Advertiser
If Clinton Peake has a special quality to his batting that makes
him stand out, it is "his first class player striking ability",
according to Victoria Cricket Association coaching manager Ashley
Ross.
"I think the type of thing that characterises him is the qulity
of his timing," Ross said this week.
"He doesn`t evver seem to hit the ball with any great urgency or
lusty swings, but the ball just canons off the bat.
"His strengths are extraordinary in that he scores at such a
rate without appearing to be doing anything special. He just
walks out there and runs just start flowing."
They are the type of comments people use when describing the
likes of Australian test batsman Mark wuagh. It is a very big
wrap, indeed.
Geelong coach Ian Redpath would not go so far in assessing the
promising young Cat.
Redpath says he will be a loss to the side in coming weeks,
although he stresses Geelong`s batting depth has been able to
cover setbacks throughout the season.
But he rates him highly and believes he will return from the
under 19 tour a better player.
"He`s been very positive for us and more often than not he`s got
runs in a good positive fashion," Redpath said of Peakes first
full season in the VCA.
"He should come back in good form, he`s playing plenty of
cricket while he`s been away."
Redpath said he had a lot of hard work ahead of him, but
obviously a very talented player.
"It`s hard to say, but he looks like going forward, there`s no
doubt about that," Redpath added. "He`s got the eye for it and
the attitude for it and enthusiasm for it."
Victorian Institute of Sport coach Dave Whatmore agrees Peake
certainly has the potential to reach first class level and
beyond.
"He`s had a lot of cricket this year," he said.
"It`s a lot of cricket, but I think it`s good, though, because
you get to where you`re going a little bit quicker.
"He`s got the ingredients of being a definite first class
player."
Ross said that Peake was still under 18, but had been chosen in
a national under 19 team was a fair statement of what the
Australian selectors also think of him.
"The fact the State selectors included him in State second XI
games speaks volumes of the respect they have for his ability,"
he added.
"I reckon you need to be able to pick a kid that, when you see
them hit the ball, you looke for where it is and it`s 20 to 30
metres further on.
"That what the really good players do. They hit the ball so
cleanly that it is miles further and it`s gone much quicker than
you think.
"It`s a specialty and they stand out in the crowd."
FRIENDS FORCED TO MAKE THE HARD DECISIONS
By Geoff Davie in the Geelong Advertiser.
Growing up side-by-side on the sporting field breeds a special
freindship and that was surely the case for Clinton Peake and
Tony Brown.
Both were talented juniors in both cricket and football.
Last year they played together at Geelong Cricket Club and also
with the Geelong Falcons under 18 football team in the Victorian
State League.
But good judges picked it early. Brown was rated a better
footballer than a cricketer, while Peake was said to be the
opposite.
It looks to be heading that way, too.
Brown`s cricket took a back seat this season after being snapped
up by a gleeful St Kilda in last Novembers national AFL draft.
Peake, who once clear of commitments at Geelong College played
the final six matches with the Falcons, including the grand
final, has won national selection on the cricket field.
But the suggestion he will turn his back on football brings a
far from impressed response.
"I don`t really have a preference. Whatever happens, happens,"
Peake said.
He rated himself and Brown on a par as cricketers last season.
In fact, the pair played side-by-side in the Victorian under-17
team, Peake as captain and Brown his deputy.
"He just had to make a decision," Peake said of Brown`s decision
to put football first, brought on as well by the need for a thumb
operation after the Falcon`s grand final.
"He`s played senior practice games (with St Kilda) so it looks
like he`s made the right one."
Peake, obviously though, has thought a bit of what might happen
and raises examples of some who have successfuly combined both.
"Most of them have a definite first sport and then fit the other
one in around it," Peake said.
"The only one that I can remember was (Essendon`s) Geoff Parker,
who played both, but now he`s doing neither, so you`ve got to be
a bit careful."
Like his cricket, Peake loves his footy and is a talented rover.
Far from getting carried away with what "might" happen with his
cricket, he said he could well wind up playinbg both sports.
"If you`re just playing District cricket and local footy, you
can them both forever," he said.
"So you never know, I might yet do that in a couple of years."