Who is the next Ricky Ponting?
As a cricket tragic, I have been fortunate enough in my 20-odd years of indulging in Test cricket to watch players like Jacques Kallis, Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar as well as the current generation of Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.
Which brings me to the question: who are the next generation of elite batsmen of our game?
I mean, the players who we’ll one day tell our children and grandchildren about how they changed the game.
Is it Cameron Green who averages 36 with the bat and 35 with the ball or is it Harry Brook who averages 58 or is it Yavishal Jaiswal who is averaging 52 from his small sample size?
Who is taking the throne and will be remembered as this generation’s Tendulkar or Don Bradman?
Twenty-20 cricket and the improvement of bowlers over the last 20 years means fewer batsmen are averaging over 50. Dominant batsmen who make runs for fun are becoming a rare commodity.
I want to start with Yashasvi Jaiswal. He’s 23 and currently averages 52.88 from 19 matches, including making four hundreds and one fifty.
In fact, apart from South Africa, he’s made either at least a fifty or a hundred against every team, including hundreds in Australia and in the West Indies.
Ricky Ponting. (James Knowler/Getty Images)
He has the temperament at the top of the order and has the appetite for the big score with his current highest score of 214* against England in India. However, he averages 30 against left-arm pace, slightly below his 52.88 average.
Let’s turn our attention to Brook. At 25, he averages 58.48 from 24 matches, including eight hundreds and ten fifties. He’s scored hundreds against New Zealand away, hundreds against Pakistan and a hundred against the West Indies.
He’s a quintessential modern-day Bazball player, attacking from ball one and proving difficult to bowl against, making him a key figure in England’s Bazball philosophy.
However, he’s yet to make a hundred against Australia and yet to play India marking questions on whether he can perform against the best teams in the world.
Finally, I want to turn my attention to Cameron Green. He’s 25 and has made two hundreds and six fifties. Both his hundreds came against India and New Zealand away, in difficult conditions.
Cameron Green. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
He bowls at 140km/h and took 5/27 against South Africa. However, he’s had his challenges with injury and he’s yet to develop that consistency, seen in both Jaiswal and Brook.
Test cricket continues to evolve, remaining as captivating as ever. With young players like Jaiswal, Brook, and Green leading the charge, the next generation of batsmen is emerging before our eyes.
But when the dust settles and the ball kicks up, who is the next Ricky Ponting?
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