Follow UsWith David Warner hanging up his boots in the longest format after the Pakistan tour, Australia are in search of an able replacement at the top of the order. While Marcus Harris is the incumbent, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that Western Australia’s Cameron Bancroft should have a first crack at the opening spot.
"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.
Last summer, Bancroft was leading the run-scoring pack in Sheffield Shield, with 945 runs, 289 runs more than the South Australian batter Daniel Drew, who had a good breakthrough season. Bancroft also crafted four centuries during the season, averaging 59.06, with just one duck in the entire season.
"If you wind the clock back about six months it might have been a slightly different order than what it is now,” Ponting had to add.
"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."
Despite no trip to Asia, Ponting believes that he could envision a comeback for all-rounder Glenn Maxwell in the Test setup. Maxwell has been in the best form of his life, with a double-century in the ODI World Cup against Afghanistan and now a century against India in the third T20I of the five-match series, all in a winning cause.
"I could see him getting back into a Test line-up because of the all round game that he brings in those conditions," Ponting said. "The [201] not out in that game against Afghanistan, which is the most remarkable one-day innings I've ever seen.
"I've been around a lot of games, watched a lot of games, played a lot of games, I've never ever seen anything like that."
However, Ponting’s thoughts on Cameron Green weren’t on the same lines, with the former Australian coach wanting the talented all-rounder to spend more time at the domestic level before walking back into the Australian XI.
"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.