Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, has voiced his belief that Jake Fraser-McGurk, a young Australian cricketer, has the potential to become a Test match player for Australia. Ponting emphasized the need to expose Fraser-McGurk to international cricket across formats to expedite his development as a versatile cricketer.
Fraser-McGurk’s impactful performance in his second ODI, where he scored 41 runs off just 18 balls, including five fours and three sixes, played a key role in Australia’s swift chase of West Indies’ target of 87 runs in under seven overs in Canberra.
“Absolutely,” Ponting told reporters in Melbourne. “Just because of the talent that he’s got. And we’ve seen with other players in the past, even like a Shahid Afridi or something like that, that came on the stage as an ultra-talented ball-striking 17-year-old that can bowl legspin and before you know it, he’s probably played [27] Test matches.
“When you’ve got that sort of talent you need to be exposed to cricket at the highest level to work it out. And I think Jake can do that yet. I’m definitely backing one day to play Test cricket.”
Ponting drew parallels between Fraser-McGurk and David Warner in terms of their talent and suggested that Fraser-McGurk should be fast-tracked into the Australian cricket system similar to Warner’s trajectory.
“I was on record at the start of the summer saying I think he’s someone that can be well and truly fast-tracked through the Australian system,” Ponting said. “Because the natural talent that he’s got reminds me a bit of David Warner‘s introduction into Australian cricket. When we saw [Warner] at the start, I think everyone doubted whether he was going to be good enough to play Test cricket technically.
“But with the talent and the skill that he had, which I think Jake has got as much talent as what Davey had coming through, then I think the earlier they can get him into the system and get him playing and let him work out for himself the best way to have success in all the different formats, I think it will be great for Australian cricket.”
Ponting acknowledged the differences in the paths taken by Warner and Fraser-McGurk in their cricket journeys. Warner made his mark in T20I and ODI cricket for Australia before his first-class debut, while Fraser-McGurk debuted in first-class cricket at a young age but faced initial struggles before finding success with South Australia this season.
“I’m not sure he had a real clear plan or idea of what the best version of himself was and how he needed to play [with Victoria],” Ponting said. “But what I’ve seen since he’s moved to South Australia in Shield cricket and one-day cricket for them and then what he brought to the Renegades this year, I think it’s pretty clear now the way that he wants to go about it and play his cricket.
“Now he might have to temper that and change that here and there at different times in different situations and in different formats of the game. But I think when you’ve got that talent, I think he can do that. So he’s a really exciting young bloke that I’m looking forward to seeing him develop over the next couple of years.”
Despite not being included in Australia’s T20I squads for the upcoming series against West Indies and New Zealand, Ponting believes Fraser-McGurk should be given more opportunities at a young age to benefit Australian cricket in the long run.
“Obviously, there’s only so many people you can pick in the World Cup squad, isn’t there,” Ponting said. “He’ll get other opportunities. But the more he can get the earlier he can get them at a younger age, the better it will be.
“I’m not saying at all that he should have been picked in the World Cup squad because they’ve put together a really good squad anyway, and one that on paper will look as good as probably any team going there. He’ll have to bide his time. But as we saw yesterday, he looks pretty keen to make the most of the opportunities that he gets.”
This article was written by Alex Malcolm, an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo.
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