Skipper Richard Oliver is looking for Geelong City to bounce back from a double setback when they visit leaders East Belmont for a Geelong Cricket Association first grade clash tomorrow (Saturday).
City were beaten on first innings by North Geelong last weekend and then saw their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Geelong Advertiser T20 Cup ended by Murgheboluc on Tuesday.
But Worcestershire opener Oliver is refusing to press the panic button and has been happy with the form shown by his side during the first part of the campaign.
He said: "The big build up to our game against North Geelong ended in disappointment as we were beaten by the Magpies on the weekend.
"They deserved to take the points and we were well below par on the day in all departments.
"But we have no reason to panic just yet, as we've generally played very well this season so far.
"We need to keep our focus heading into our second top of the table clash in a week, versus first placed East Belmont on Saturday."
Oliver will revert to his other role as Geelong groundsman during the festive break from action.
He said: "There's plenty going on at the moment and we have our mid season maintenance work scheduled on the ground for next week.
"Work is done on the practice and match blocks, and then they are top dressed to get them in pristine shape for the post Christmas run in.
"Once that is out of the way I'm going to try and get away for a few days, and hopefully watch a day or two of the Boxing Day Test match (Australia v India).
"There's only two weeks between games so training will start again in the first week of January."
Away from cricket, Oliver is full of admiration for the resilience of the Australian people in dealing with the Sydney siege. Two people and an Islamist gunman died in a 16 hour siege which ended when commandoes stormed a cafe.
Oliver said: "It's been another rough couple of days out here with the 'Sydney Siege' concluding in Martin Place.
"It is another tragedy that has hit our community hard.
"But it's amazing to see the resilience of the people out here and the feeling of togetherness in the aftermath of such sadness.
"The overwhelming attitude has been that 'this just doesn't happen in Australia' and hopefully it's something we won't be seeing again anytime soon, anywhere in the world."
