Future Australian Test Prospects

[KBLT]

With the current Aussie test team looking pretty average, and with a few players beginning to approach retirement age, I wanted to take a look at some of the future prospects for a baggy green. In all likelihood, maybe 3 or 4 of these guys at most ever play Tests, but it's fun to theorise. Everyone on this list will be picked from players who've never played a Test match before.

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Keepers

Alex Carey: As things stand right now, he'd be the first cab off the rank. His batting looks very solid and his keeping is somewhere between decent and great. He could stand to improve his glovework and running between the wickets, however. 8/10 he plays tests at some point.

Josh Inglis: This season, Inglis has bolted into contention with some excellent batting and keeping. He would slot nicely into 7 in tests, and his keeping is probably a fair bit better than Carey's. If he can continue his form with the bat, he'll be a very good chance. 6.5/10 he plays tests.

Jimmy Peirson: Looks to have the composure for Tests, and his batting is pretty good. I haven't seen much of his glovework though. 1/10

Seb Gotch: Definitely a dark horse but his keeping is pretty good and so is his batting. If he has a strong season, he could come into contention. 1/10

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Spinners

Mitch Swepson: Currently leads the Shield wicket taking tally with 23 @ 21 from 6 innings. If Lyon breaks down or we want to play 2 spinners, he would almost certainly be our first choice. 9/10 he plays, likely when we next tour the subcontinent.

Adam Zampa: He's the best short-form spinner in the country, but his first-class record is below par. He's mostly just on this list for his international experience. That being said, if he can improve his red ball bowling, he could find his way into the team. 1/10

Lloyd Pope: Whilst it won't be any time soon, he looks like he has the potential to play Tests. If his development goes as planned, he could be playing within the next 5 or so years. 5/10 purely because he's so early in his career. Could be anything.

Tanveer Sangha: Definitely a last minute addition to this list. Could be anything, but looks very promising from the small sample we've seen of him. 2(?)/10

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Batsmen

Will Pucovski: As of this being posted, he hasn't yet played a Test match. The only knock on him is his persistent concussion issues. Otherwise, he looks like he will be a star. 9.99/10, very likely this series. Has officially played his first Test innings. Had a couple of chances but has started very well.

Ben McDermott: He's clearly a very capable short-form player, and played well against India for Australia A. Give him a few years and if he can string together a few big scores in a season, he could break into the team. 3.5/10

Sam Whiteman: A very left-field option, Whiteman's batting has looked very solid so far this season, and if that form continues, he may find himself in contention as an opener. 3/10

Bryce Street: Started his FC career very promisingly. If he can continue to make 100s over the next few seasons, he might just become a serious prospect. 4.5/10

Is it concerning that I could only think of these guys?
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All Rounders

Jack Wildermuth: Has improved significantly in recent times. If he can improve his batting further, and average low to mid 40s with the bat whilst maintaining his bowling, he could get a chance if Green doesn't fire. 3/10

Michael Neser: Honestly, this guy is unlucky not to have played a test match already. With Pattinson going down with an injury again, if one Starc, Cummins or Hazlewood go down, chances are he'll get his shot. Extremely handy with the bat and averages mid 20s with the ball in the shield. 7/10

Will Sutherland: Another one who is a prospect for further down the track. He's bowled well so far in his short career. Give him a few years of development and he could become a very good bowling all rounder. 3.5/10

Marcus Stoinis: Like Zampa, is nowhere near as good in FC as he is in the shorter forms. Bowling average higher than batting average. 1/10

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Quicks

Sean Abbott: He's a consistent player who will always be considered there or about, but I don't believe he's good enough to make the step up. That being said, clearly the international selectors see something in him. But he's also roughly the same age as the current contingent, which works against him. 4/10

Harry Conway: Has been fairly impressive so far, but needs to take a step up to be any real chance. 1/10

Riley Meredith: Another one that needs to take a step up in FC cricket before he's a real chance. Between him and Conway, however, I rate him more. Has good pace. 3/10

Mark Steketee: A bit of an interesting prospect. As it is, if our current attack weren't as good as they are, I believe he would have been in the squad a few times. But, as is the case with most of the quicks on this list, Starc, Cummins, and Hazlewood are just too well set to break in permanently. That being said, I think he may be a decent chance to play sometime in the future. 2.5/10

Xavier Bartlett: Another one of these younger players who look to have an exciting future. But he's only played 5 FC matches, even if he has been relatively impressive. 2/10

Daniel Worrall: Has been a fairly consistent performer for a while now, but as it is, if he is to play a Test match, a lot of players would need to go down first. If he takes another step up, he could fill the reserve paceman role. 1/10

Matt Kelly (thanks eth-dog): From what I've seen of him in FC, he has a promising future ahead of him. Has a very good yorker. Probably WA's best pace bowler, with Jhye Richardson his main competition when both are fully fit. 5/10

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Did I miss anyone? How badly did I get this wrong?

 

[eth-dog]

Keepers, keeping wise:

1. Inglis
2. Daylight
3. Gotch
4. More daylight
5. Carey/Peirson (both are very poor)

Spinners:

Swepson, and then Agar is probably the next best after that. Zampa doesn't even play FC cricket, seriously...

Bats:

Pucovski is well ahead of all that have been mentioned. Street the next most likely.

All-rounders:

Neser or Sutherland probably the most likely

Seamers:

Abbott and Meredith the only chances from that list, but where's Kelly? Far more likely than anybody you listed apart from Abbott.

 

[KBLT]

Keepers, keeping wise:

1. Inglis
2. Daylight
3. Gotch
4. More daylight
5. Carey/Peirson (both are very poor)

Spinners:

Swepson, and then Agar is probably the next best after that. Zampa doesn't even play FC cricket, seriously...

Bats:

Pucovski is well ahead of all that have been mentioned. Street the next most likely.

All-rounders:

Neser or Sutherland probably the most likely

Seamers:

Abbott and Meredith the only chances from that list, but where's Kelly? Far more likely than anybody you listed apart from Abbott.

Matt Kelly? I'll be honest, I completely forgot about him. Zampa is purely there because he has international experience, and I definitely don't want him near the team but I guarantee the selectors will be looking at him.

 

[eth-dog]

Matt Kelly? I'll be honest, I completely forgot about him. Zampa is purely there because he has international experience, and I definitely don't want him near the team but I guarantee the selectors will be looking at him.

If they were they would have told South Australia to play him over the past couple of years.

 

[The Passenger]

Why not have some fun.... From the guys listed, I think these guys will win baggy greens with future predictions:

Carey - Has been earmarked for a while now as the next keeper and despite a bit of a bit of challenge from Inglis, I think that will still be the case when Paine retires, which won't be too far away. His glove work is still questionable, but unless Inglis improves Carey probably has the spot for 4-5 years.

Inglis - Is looking very likely as the one after Carey. He'll probably get squeezed a bit by Carey at one end and at the other end an as of yet unknown youngster coming through the ranks to displace him pretty quickly (That may even happen before he gets a cap). The keeping position post-Paine is definitely an area of concern.

Swepson - Obviously our next spinner in line. Something major would have to happen for this to change anytime soon. The gap between Swepson and our #3 is bigger than the gap between Lyon and Swepson. I reckon he'll put in similar performances to Lyon, but won't have the time for 100+ tests as Garry is about to bring up. I can see him making 50 tests quite comfortably and pretty confident he can average in the low 30's - if so that is a pretty decent ~15 year span of spinners we would have had.

Pope - Very unpredictable future but as it stands now, he's a LONG way short of the consistency required to be a long term test cricketer. But I reckon he'll go on a little heater in shield cricket at some point, probably enough to land him a subcontinent tour as our second spinner or maybe even displace Swespon in the same way Lyon got dropped on a whim a few times earlier in his career. I would be pleasantly surprised if it happens for him, but I don't think he'll go much beyond a handful of speculative tests.

Pucosvski - Looking like he'll play the next test. Absolute top shelf talent. If he conquers his concussion and short ball issues, he could be as good an opener as Langer or Hayden. I'm pretty bullish that he'll put all this behind him and have a big career. If not, that's gonna put a big dent in our batting for the next decade because that is a huge talent to see unfulfilled.

Street - A Decent enough batsmen who I think will get a crack at test cricket at some point but not expecting much more than a Burns-esque sort of time in the Baggy Green. His scoring rate is excruciatingly slow, even for long form cricket.

Neser - We've been pretty happy to rotate our quick bowlers in recent seasons and Neser is right in the mix now. With current availability he is next in line so it could happen pretty soon for him. With the amount of quick bowling quality around he won't get much time in the baggy green, but when he does get the chance he'll give it all his all and perform well. A good reward for a bloody gutsy FC career - His identical predecessor from up north James Hopes was unlucky not to get one at some point himself.

Sutherland - Bit of a rough action but this youngster can bowl and his age profile is perfect to come into the set up right in the twilight of Cummins and Haze's careers. Predicting the future of a guy this young and inexperienced is supremely difficult but If I was doing a draft of Australian FC cricketers with less than 10 matches, I think Sutherland would be my number 1. If he gets a chance and he doesn't succeed from very early in his career, he'll become a BigFooty whipping boy very quickly (largely due to his Dad).

Can't rate Sangha as not seen him. I think the rest will fall short of getting a cap.

Will be interesting to revisit years down the track.

 

[KBLT]

If they were they would have told South Australia to play him over the past couple of years.

Maybe. Still, I wouldn't rule out them trying to force him into a decent red ball player once Lyon retires. They did the same thing with Doherty.

 

[KBLT]

At the end of the day, most of the guys listed here are purely there based on their highest potential. Most of them won't get anywhere near that.

 

[eth-dog]

Maybe. Still, I wouldn't rule out them trying to force him into a decent red ball player once Lyon retires. They did the same thing with Doherty.

Lyon has 4 years left, and in 4 years time, Swepson will be almost certainly fighting for that first spinners spot with him, and guys like Parker (who I really rate) should be going pretty well too. Heard good things about this Rochiccioli kid from WA too.

 

[eth-dog]

Sutherland - Bit of a rough action but this youngster can bowl and his age profile is perfect to come into the set up right in the twilight of Cummins and Haze's careers. Predicting the future of a guy this young and inexperienced is supremely difficult but If I was doing a draft of Australian FC cricketers with less than 10 matches, I think Sutherland would be my number 1. If he gets a chance and he doesn't succeed from very early in his career, he'll become a BigFooty whipping boy very quickly (largely due to his Dad).

You're behind the times mate, it's already begun. A bunch of guys who only watch BBL have decided he got handed everything to him on a silver platter and that he sucks. Oh and because he made his List A debut in the CAXI vs Pakistan (featuring luminaries such as Sam Raphael, Will Bosisto and Henry Thornton) whilst the BBL and test series were on as a 17 year old proves that.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I’d be very surprised if T Sangha doesn’t play a lot of cricket in all formats for Australia.

Says a lot about how J Sangha is going that he’s not even on the above list.

 

[eth-dog]

I’d be very surprised if T Sangha doesn’t play a lot of cricket in all formats for Australia.

Says a lot about how J Sangha is going that he’s not even on the above list.

Would have loved to have seen him in second XI cricket this season.

 

[The Passenger]

Says a lot about how J Sangha is going that he’s not even on the above list.

Oozes talent but as I said in another thread today his career has not just stalled - it's stuck on the runway.

He's at a level of talent and still young enough it would only take 12-18 months of good FC form for his name to come up in terms of potentially getting selected for test cricket. But at the moment he is miles off the pace and going backwards in the pack of young prospects.

My old man saw him bat a couple of times last grade season and he killed it. Ended up averaging over 80 for the season, but has not been able to adjust to first class cricket yet.

 

[KBLT]

Oozes talent but as I said in another thread today his career has not just stalled - it's stuck on the runway.

He's at a level of talent and still young enough it would only take 12-18 months of good FC form for his name to come up in terms of potentially getting selected for test cricket. But at the moment he is miles off the pace and going backwards in the pack of young prospects.

My old man saw him bat a couple of times last grade season and he killed it. Ended up averaging over 80 for the season, but has not been able to adjust to first class cricket yet.

I get a Jake Doran kind of feeling from him. At one time, touted as a future superstar, and now has had a couple of good knocks but can't seem to adjust to FC level. Hopefully they both prove me wrong.

 

[Ducky Tie]

I definitely prefer Inglis to Carey. Better gloveman, has a simpler technique with the bat which will help him I think, and is four years younger.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Missing Chris Green

 

[KBLT]

Missing Chris Green

He's never even played in a FC match

 

[Hamingja]

Keepers aside you feel there is going to be a lot of recycling of already capped players the next few years, you wouldn't be buying shares in too many of them.

 

[t_94]

Oozes talent but as I said in another thread today his career has not just stalled - it's stuck on the runway.

He's at a level of talent and still young enough it would only take 12-18 months of good FC form for his name to come up in terms of potentially getting selected for test cricket. But at the moment he is miles off the pace and going backwards in the pack of young prospects.

My old man saw him bat a couple of times last grade season and he killed it. Ended up averaging over 80 for the season, but has not been able to adjust to first class cricket yet.

He’s still just 21. These guys are hyped up too much too early. They should be left to develop at first class level unless they come in and show they can dominate like Pucovski and Green.

 

[Pippen94]

Lyon has 4 years left, and in 4 years time, Swepson will be almost certainly fighting for that first spinners spot with him, and guys like Parker (who I really rate) should be going pretty well too. Heard good things about this Rochiccioli kid from WA too.

Swepson's form is such he will get a chance alongside Lyon at some stage.

I've heard reputations for young spinners over the years but most don't make cut. It's not fair on bowlers & ppl should wait till they do something at state level.

 

[Pippen94]

Matt Kelly? I'll be honest, I completely forgot about him. Zampa is purely there because he has international experience, and I definitely don't want him near the team but I guarantee the selectors will be looking at him.

Brad Hogg got chance on back of odi form so it's possible. Secretly I want Zampa to break record for most international wickets without a test

 

[Perth bloke]

Limited overs cricket wise McDermott looks a safe bet I agree. The last few years he's been impressive

 

[BronCrow]

I definitely prefer Inglis to Carey. Better gloveman, has a simpler technique with the bat which will help him I think, and is four years younger.

Think that Inglis is the obvious option once Paine retires. Age if nothing else works in Inglis' favour.

 

[KBLT]

Heard good things about this Rochiccioli kid from WA too.

I know nothing about him. What have you heard?

 

[eth-dog]

I know nothing about him. What have you heard?

Mainly that he has tricks. Nice flight. Had quite a few bamboozled at times during pre-season.

 

[Voice of the G]

Jake Fraser-Mc Gurk,young but promising.