The legendary cricketer Ricky Ponting has made an endorsement of the batter Jake Fraser McGurk after his return to the Marsh Cup. He believes that the 21-year-old blaster has a talent matching young David Warner.
Ricky Ponting picks Australia’s Future Test Player
Jake Fraser had a decent run in the final ODI match in the West Indies tour of Australia 2024 smashing 41 runs on 18 deliveries including five boundaries and 3 sixes.
He will be returning to the domestic cup to play in the match between Victoria and South Australia on Thursday.
Ponting said that Fraser’s impressive display in the match reminded Warner’s performance against South Africa at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2009.
“(Fraser-McGurk) is someone that can be well and truly fast-tracked through the Australian system,” Ponting said on Wednesday after being confirmed as coach of US Major League Cricket franchise Washington Freedom.
“When we saw (Warner) at the start everyone doubted whether he’s going to be good enough to play Test cricket, technically.
“But with the talent and the skill that (Warner) had – Jake has got as much talent as David had come coming through … the earlier they can get him into the system (the better).
“Get him playing and letting him work out for himself the best way to have success in all the different formats.”
Ricky Ponting referred to Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi who established himself as a Test player.
“When you’ve got that sort of talent, you need to be exposed to cricket at the highest level to work it out, Jake can do that,” said Ponting.
After the retirement announcement from David Warner, the rise of the young batter has raised hopes of the former cricketer.
Warner has retired from ODI and Tests but will play in the T20 squad which is set to play in the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup in June hosted by the USA and West Indies.
Jake’s impressive performance in the Big Bash League campaign, when played for Melbourne Renegades, has fallen into the sight of selectors for T20 squads, with selecting him as Warner’s successor in the ODI opener.
Steve Smith was also surprised by watching Fraser-McGurk smash during the third ODI. “When you’ve got that sort of talent, you need to be exposed to cricket at the highest level to work it out, Jake can do that,” said Smith.
Josh Inglis who opened alongside Fraser-McGurk in Sydney and Canberra referred to him as a “freak” for smashing a big score in the third ODI.
Victoria and South Australia will be playing the 17th match of the Marsh Cup on February 08, at Junction Oval, Melbourne.
