Mitchell, Reading lead Geelong Cricket Club to Marg Jennings Cup victory

Ayva Mitchell and Lilly Reading, alongside Western Waves teammate Zarli Knight, took on Victoria's best under-15 talent in Melbourne.

Mitchell, a fast bowler, and Reading, a keeping all-rounder, were influential in Geelong's tournament.

"Ayva was a key bowler for us, quite a fast bowler, who we used in every game. She's a very strong bowler, and she got a few wickets with that as well," Geelong coach Jess Field said.

"We definitely used her role to put some pressure on the batters and create some wickets."

Reading shared wicket-keeping duties, but impressed when given opportunities with bat and ball

"She's a handy wicket keeper," Field said.

"We did rotate her because she bowled nice offies [off spin] but also as a batter. Especially in the first or second T20 of the tournament."

Reading scored an unbeaten 23 off 37 balls as Geelong won its opening T20 fixture against Plenty Valley by 129 runs on Tuesday, January 16.

During the group stage, Geelong went through a mixture of T20 and 40-over fixtures undefeated and finished second on the table.

Geelong backed up its win over Plenty Valley with a four-wicket win over Carlton on January 16.

In its 40-over fixtures, Geelong won over Dandenong (seven wickets), Essendon-Maribyrnong Park (five wickets), and Greenvale (five wickets) before its grand final against Prahan on January 25.

Reading's application at the crease was shown in an unbeaten 20 not out from 40 balls, which saw her side to 9/163 from 40 overs.

"She is quite a handy and stable batter, even in the final. She did bat for that last partnership just to get us an extra 20 to 30 runs that we did need to get on the board," Field said.

"I'd like to say she's a trustworthy batter. When I know she's going in, I can back her into stay there and make a decent 20 or 30 runs. And she did that perfectly.

"Basically, in the final, we said we just don't want to be bowled out. I told her that she went out there to bat, and she did that perfectly.

"So when you can have a batter that I can play that role so comfortably, It's very important."

Prahan were limited to 104 all out in the rain-affected match, as Geelong went through the tournament undefeated.

Field believed having defined roles for each player was a large reason for the team's overall success.

"We went into the first game just with a plan and with roles for each player. And the girls all did that perfectly. And then that obviously went well for us."

"it was pretty incredible really. I mean, we weren't exactly sure going into the tournament, I think the same as every other team in it."

Over the six matches, Reading scored 43 runs from two innings' without being dismissed and took one wicket.

Mitchell finished the six matches with two wickets, nine runs, a run-out and a catch.