“Completely,” Ponting informed reporters in Melbourne. “Simply due to the expertise that he is received. And we have seen with different gamers prior to now, even like a Shahid Afridi or one thing like that, that got here on the stage as an ultra-talented ball-striking 17-year-old that may bowl legspin and earlier than you recognize it, he is most likely performed [27] Test matches.
“While you’ve received that type of expertise you want to be uncovered to cricket on the highest degree to work it out. And I feel Jake can try this but. I am undoubtedly backing sooner or later to play Test cricket.”
“I used to be on file in the beginning of the summer time saying I feel he is somebody that may be nicely and really fast-tracked by the Australian system,” Ponting mentioned. “As a result of the pure expertise that he is received jogs my memory a little bit of David Warner’s introduction into Australian cricket. After we noticed [Warner] in the beginning, I feel everybody doubted whether or not he was going to be adequate to play Test cricket technically.
“However with the expertise and the ability that he had, which I feel Jake has received as a lot expertise as what Davey had coming by, then I feel the sooner they’ll get him into the system and get him enjoying and let him work out for himself one of the simplest ways to have success in all of the completely different codecs, I feel it will likely be nice for Australian cricket.”
There are some variations between the journeys that Warner and Fraser-McGurk have had in progressing by the Australian cricket pathway.
Warner famously performed T20I and ODI cricket for Australia earlier than he performed a first-class sport. His T20I, ODI and first-class debuts all got here after his twenty second birthday.
Warner then made 960 runs at a median of 60 in his first 11 first-class matches, together with two Sheffield Defend centuries for New South Wales and a 211 for Australia A towards a Zimbabwe XI earlier than making his Test debut at 25.
However Ponting believes Fraser-McGurk has already made enormous leaps in his sport and is prepared to sort out worldwide cricket.
“I am unsure he had a actual clear plan or concept of what the most effective model of himself was and the way he wanted to play [with Victoria],” Ponting mentioned. “However what I’ve seen since he is moved to South Australia in Defend cricket and one-day cricket for them after which what he introduced to the Renegades this 12 months, I feel it is fairly clear now the way in which that he desires to go about it and play his cricket.
“Now he may need to mood that and alter that right here and there at completely different instances in numerous conditions and in numerous codecs of the sport. However I feel while you’ve received that expertise, I feel he can try this. So he is a actually thrilling younger bloke that I am wanting ahead to seeing him develop over the following couple of years.”
“Clearly, there’s solely so many individuals you may decide within the World Cup squad, is not there,” Ponting mentioned. “He’ll get different alternatives. However the extra he can get the sooner he can get them at a youthful age, the higher it will likely be.
“I am not saying in any respect that he ought to have been picked within the World Cup squad as a result of they’ve put collectively a actually good squad anyway, and one which on paper will look pretty much as good as most likely any crew going there. He’ll have to bide his time. However as we noticed yesterday, he appears to be like fairly eager to profit from the alternatives that he will get.”
Alex Malcolm is an affiliate editor at ESPNcricinfo
