ROCKED as a cricket fan, but still ready to go in round one.
That’s how Bernie Vince described how he was feeling when he arrived at the MCG in preparation for Melbourne’s season-opener against Geelong Cats on Sunday.
“I’ve been rattled about it all morning,” he told Melbourne Media, when reflecting about Australia’s ball tampering against South Africa, as he arrived at the ‘G.
“I just can’t believe the news that, not only did they do it, or a player did it, but they’ve admitted that they planned it. I’m a bit rattled this morning.
“I’ve seen the New Zealand Black Caps efforts as well over the last few days and I’m thinking about jumping ship at the moment – not that I ever would, I’m only thinking about it … I’m rattled.”
Vince said teammate and New Zealand cricket fan Max Gawn had already attempted to woo Vince over to the Black Caps.
“He just tried to recruit me just then actually,” he said with a smile.
“Bowling England out for 58, it’s a bit hard to say no at the moment, but surely [the Australian team] will come out with some reason – won’t they? Apart from cheating.”
Focusing on more immediate matters, Vince was relaxed, but focused on the job at hand this afternoon.
“It’s always exciting when round one comes around,” he said.
“This is a big game for us against Geelong, who were a top four side last year, so it’s a big game for the footy club today, off the back of a big pre-season, but every team comes off big pre-seasons.
“It’s exciting today – it’s got that little bit extra special bit of excitement for us.”
Vince said this year’s build-up had been big, given there weren’t as many pre-season matches.
“It’s been a pretty long build-up to be honest, because if you’re going off today, we’ve played one game in about a month, with long breaks in between JLT [Community Series] games,” he said.
“It’s been a little bit different this year. Normally we play three games in a row and have a weekend off and we’re into round one.
“So, there has been a lot of talk and a lot of noise, before a ball’s been bounced, so we’re just looking forward to getting out there now. We think we’ve done the work required and we think we’ve got the best team available out on the park. So, we won’t shy away from the fact that we’re here to win.”
