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In January, when Australia’s seasoned opener David
Warner retires from Test cricket, Ricky Ponting believes that Cameron Bancroft
ought to take his position.
Bancroft of Western Australia has once again topped
the Sheffield Shield run-scoring chart with 945 runs last summer, some 300 more
than the next best.
In spite of his domestic achievements, Bancroft, 31,
lost out to Marcus Harris for a backup batting position in Australia’s Ashes
team in June.
Following Warner’s farewell at the SCG, Harris and
Queenslander Matt Renshaw are the front-runners to partner Usman Khawaja.
Next week in Canberra, all three will have another
opportunity to make an impression for the Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan.
However, Ponting believes Bancroft needed to be
recalled for his first Test since 2019 due to his sheer weight of runs.
“If you look at those three guys, I think it’s
quite clear that Bancroft is the one that’s got the runs on the board and I
wouldn’t be surprised if they [selectors] go that way,” he told SEN on
Thursday. “If you wind the clock back about six months it might have been
a slightly different order than what it is now.
“I think they probably had Harris as the one that
would come back in a while ago. To me now it sort of feels [there’s] a bit more
of a groundswell behind Cameron Bancroft getting first crack.”
In order to allow all-rounder Cameron Green to return
to the Test XI, Australia coach Andrew McDonald has suggested switching up the
batting order to open. However, Ponting has advised against this, stating that
Green should have to prove himself in the Shield with Western Australia.
“I think Cameron Green might just have to sit
back and bide his time and wait for the opportunity to come back,” Ponting
said. “He can get a truckload of runs in Shield cricket and sort of force
his way back into the side.
“[Marnus] Labuschagne has been outstanding at
number three for Australia, it’s very much a specialist position.”