Batting wunderkind Ollie Peake primed for Victorian seconds call-up, as he looks to launch from prodigious Under 19s record

Then the 18-year-old will prepare for a graduation to state cricket.

Peake will almost certainly be selected for the Victorian Second XI side to play Tasmania in Launceston from November 25-28.

The busy left-hander is back in the Geelong team in Victorian Premier Cricket after returning from a run-filled Under 19 series for Australia against India in September and October.

Peake played two ‘Tests’ and two one-dayers, scoring centuries in both formats.

His 117 in the Test came off 199 balls, was spiced with 16 fours and 1 six, and apparently impressed an Indian Test great – VVS Laxman was said to be most complimentary of Peake’s innings, particularly his approach to spin bowling.

It was Peake’s second tournament in Australian colours – called in as a replacement player for the World Cup in South Africa in January and February, he hit a cool 46 not out in the final against India.

There was talk at the end of last season that Victoria would contract him, but his family was happy for him to focus on his studies.

Peake is the son of Clinton Peake, who 30 years ago cracked a triple century for the Australian Under 19s against India.

He also played nine matches for Victoria and scored almost 9000 runs for Geelong in Premier Cricket.

Cricket Victoria performance manager Graham Manou told CODE Sports: “Ollie’s coming along very well, probably better than we had ever imagined. His performances in the World Cup were fantastic. Sometimes that extra layer of pressure or expectation that they’re just going to continue on in that fashion … people can be a little bit impatient but he’s been able to maintain such a high level of performance this year.

“We’ll give him every opportunity to play in as many Second XI games in the remainder of the summer. If he keeps performing at every level that he’s playing then I’m sure he’ll put pressure on to play at the elite level. He’s a very exciting prospect and a really impressive young man, not just on the cricket field.’’

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Peake scored 71 against Camberwell Magpies in his return to Premier Cricket last Saturday.

Last season he hit 420 runs at 105 for the Cats, including his maiden century.

His run scoring gained recognition beyond the Geelong region when he broke the run-aggregate record (549) when he played for Plenty Valley in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association’s Under 15 John Craig Shield.