Shane Warne says sky is the limit for Lloyd Pope and Travis Head in Australian cricket’s dark days
SHANE Warne says leg-spin sensation Lloyd Pope and Travis Head’s gritty batting are the lights on the hill in Australia’s darkest period since its 1980s nadir.
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SHANE Warne says leg-spin sensation Lloyd Pope and Travis Head’s gritty batting are the lights on the hill in Australia’s darkest period since its 1980s nadir.
Warne is livid with the nation’s cricket hierarchy for the parlous state of Australia’s batting which has unravelled against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
However, there is cause of excitement about Pope, notes Warne.
Trumpeted as Warne 2.0, Pope took just his second first-class game to live up to the hype by becoming the youngest bowler to take seven wickets in a first-class innings against Queensland in Adelaide.
“Young Pope being a good exciting prospect is fantastic, there will be times when you want to play two (Test) spinners,” said Warne when asked by The Advertiser.
The emergence of 18-year-old Pope - called up to replace Australian Twenty20 leg-spinner Adam Zampa - has impressed Warne who says the sky is the limit for the 18-year-old.
“If young Popey is taking wickets he will put his name up there straight away,” said Warne of the kid with a killer wrong-un. “I think our bowling in any form of the game is pretty good, Nathan Lyon as our spinner has done a terrific job.”
Zampa’s recalibrated action and pace and fizz through the air has also impressed legendary leg-spinner Warne.
“I think Zampa is trying to model himself to play all three forms. I think in recent times he has developed a game that can play in T20 cricket and learn the longer version,” said Warne who has released autobiography No Spin.
“We have a lot of good spinners in the country but they have to perform.”
Australia’s pace stocks can’t cover all the cracks of threadbare batting caused by “disrespect” shown to the Sheffield Shield nursery.
“The three big quicks Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been great, saved Australia with how well they have done,” said Warne, rating Australia’s depth the worst since he entered the first class system in the late 1980s.
Head is a one young batsman with ticker and talent after making 72 in a match-saving 132-run, second innings stand with Usman Khawaja in the drawn Dubai Test against Pakistan.
“Travis Head is one the younger players who is a very good player. If you said who are the top five younger players in domestic cricket in the country, he is one of them,” said Warne.
“He can only get better. We are lucky we have him and don’t need him getting injured.”
Warne demanded accountability for the disastrous Test and Twenty20 batting collapses afflicting Justin Langer’s side against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
“I have been saying for a while the batting is the worst it has been for a long period of time,” said Warne with Australia losing consecutive Test series to South Africa and Pakistan spliced by a 5-0 one-day whitewash in England.
“It is disappointing when you wake up see the results. Someone has to be accountable.”
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