Is Pucovski ready for Tests?

Expectations are growing that rising Victorian star Will Pucovski will be wearing a baggy green at the Gabba on November 21.

Will Pucovski has his next chance to press Test claims in the Australia A game

Expectations are growing rising Victorian batting star Will Pucovski will be wearing a baggy green when the first Test against Pakistan begins at the Gabba on November 21.

It’s part of an old-fashioned groundswell to get the best young batsman in the country into the team right now.

His selection in the Australia A “bat-off” tour game against Pakistan next week puts the 21-year-old squarely in the window, having started the Sheffield Shield season with 123 in front of chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns and 67 at the WACA with national coach Justin Langer in the stands.

“I really like the look of him. He just has so much time,” Langer said after that effort.

Pucovski’s 100 was his fourth at Sheffield Shield level in 15 games. He’s done enough for the likes of Shane Warne and former selector Mark Waugh to say “lock him in”.

“We used to pick the best young player going around. He deserves his selection. Put him in at No 6 and he can work his way up,” Warne said last week

But it’s not a universal opinion, and the notion of rewarding talent without overwhelming performance remains a vexed issue in Australian cricket. It hasn’t worked wonders in recent years.

The opening two rounds of Shield featured 33 players who have played one or more Tests since 2016, in only 35 Tests. The turnstile is still spinning.

Matthew Renshaw was a Test debutant at 20 but was out of the team nine Tests later. Now 23, the Queensland opener is only paddling at domestic level. Nic Maddinson had one first-class century when picked for the first of his three blink-and-you-missed them Tests in 2016. Only now, with Victoria, is he back in contention.

The situation isn’t lost on those close to the Victorian team, all admirers of Pucovski. They have witnessed his undoubted batting talent, which included a double century last summer, but also seen him endure off-field issues, with several concussions and ongoing management of his mental health.

They are adamant Pucovski will have a long and healthy Test career. But there remains a wariness about picking him right now.

“Once-in-a-generation cricketers like Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Phil Hughes, who all started young, I don’t put Will that in sort of category just yet,” recently retired Victorian and Australian bowler John Hastings said.

“Taking everything into account, what he’s had to go through and where he’s at the moment, I would love to see him play and enjoy cricket this year, score 1000 runs, then, if everything is all well off the field, get him in after that.

“Recently, in the Greg Chappell era, they’ve been looking too hard for the next Ricky Ponting or Shane Warne and it has put us back four or five years.

“If the youth are ready and freak once-in-a-generation talents then maybe there is an argument to put them in.

“But if he doesn’t get in and smash 700 runs in the back of the Shield season, then he’ll be in a better spot than if he nicks off in a Test match after three or four innings and that’s it for a few years.”

David Hussey, the Melbourne Stars coach who spent time as a batting coach with the Vics, held a similar view: “I envisage him playing Test cricket this summer and for many summers to come. But I’d like to see him dominate Shield cricket. He’s a classy player and we know he’s going to make it.”

Herald Sun