Ricky Ponting compliments Jake Fraser-McGurk, drops major comparison with David Warner

After having a splendid season in the Big Bash League (BBL), youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk made his debut for Australia and made a significant impact in the third ODI of the series against West Indies. He smashed 41 runs off 18 deliveries in Canberra following which, the opener has received a lot of praise, with former skipper Ricky Ponting even asking Cricket Australia to consider him for Test cricket.

Ponting drew a comparison of him with young David Warner, who was ruthless with a bat in his hands. He reminded that there were some doubts regarding Warner’s abilities in Test cricket but the southpaw proved everyone wrong by playing over 100 red-ball matches for Australia. The 49-year-old mentioned that Fraser-McGurk has the talent and skill and can succeed in all three formats of the game.

“(Fraser-McGurk) is someone that can be well and truly fast-tracked through the Australian system. When we saw (Warner) at the start everyone doubted whether he's going to be good enough to play Test cricket, technically,” Warner was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au

“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,” he added.

He's certainly not short of confidence: Steven Smith

Australia’s stand-by ODI skipper Steven Smith was also impressed with Fraser-McGurk’s confidence in the series against West Indies. He added that for a youngster to be able to play with such freedom deserves credit.

“He's certainly not short of confidence and it's cool to see someone come in and at the age of 21 just play with such freedom and no fear at all,” Smith said after Australia’s eight-wicket win. 

Meanwhile, despite doing well in the shorter format, Jake-Fraser’s wait for T20Is continues as he hasn’t been named for the three-match series against New Zealand.