Warne: Time to give Will Pucovski a baggy green

Maybe he's trying to lure him to Victoria?

Warnie! Well then. His selection *must* happen. And after a full summer of 5 Tests, no doubt he will then also be in line for the captaincy. After all, as a prodigy", many don't think he needs more than 16-17 FC games under his belt to play Tests; so it must therefore follow that with 5 Tests locked away, he's also in line to be Test skipper. Whilst most (including myself) want to see him build a long and successful career for Australia by developing his game at domestic level, clearly there is a desire to "just get on with it". Of course, there are also the naysayers who would say "what has he done since being overlooked for Test selection against Sri Lanka last summer"? Well, he's had 2 centuries and quite a few low scores at an average of 37ish from about 17 FC games - but he's a prodigy, so no questions asked please. Especially not about short-ball bowling from international bowlers whose pace (and accuracy) far exceeds that of our domestic comp. The quicker he is thrust into the meat grinder, the more satisfied most of us will be, including Warnie.

Although, I was surprised that Warne actually picked Khawaja to open with Warner, over fellow Victorian Harris.

No disrespect to Will, but how would Warnie know these days anyway. Isn't he practically a pom now.

Agreed mate. Mine was not a go a Pucovski, he seems to be a genuine talent and should certainly be given every opportunity. If Warnie was picking the team it would be 9 blokes from Vic, Steve Smith but only begrudgingly as he's the only one who can score runs, and the usual token Tasmanian which would be Matty Wade.

Agree with all of that, and regarding the statistical performance of Victorian players the converse is also true. That is, on statistics, Chris Tremain is a truly remarkable bowler, given he plays half his games on this Victorian roads.

Where would Marnus go?

Agreed, if Head came out and scored a bunch of runs to start the Shield season then he would almost certainly be included, and I think they are unlikely to drop Wade at this point, though he's very much a "here and now" selection, and as such wouldn't necessarily have the same breathing room others might get, a short patch of bad form and someone scoring runs and knocking on the door and Wade would be out quite quickly. Head's initial struggles certainly open the door for someone to jump in ahead of him, and Pucovski may just benefit from that. But there's also no big rush, he's only 21, he could play another 2-3 years of Shield cricket before his debut and still be considered a real youngster when selected.

Yeah, pretty sure last year it was Stoinis he was pushing for to be in the test side. But he's moved back to WA, so Warne has to move on to another Victorian. Pucovski is definitely much more of a chance to be picked and also to succeed at test level than a lot of Warne's previous calls for selection. I do worry a bit with the Victorian batsmen though, that a lot of them have over inflated first class averages from playing all their home games on the roads that have been trotted out in Victoria of late, so it's hard to know how they really compare to others who more regularly play in testing conditions for batting. (And is one reason why you often need to look beyond pure statistics when trying to make selections). Though I think there's a lot of consensus with Pucovski, that beyond just the stats, he looks to have the technique and the game that can succeed. Need to be careful sometimes with that though, I reckon lots of people if they were just judging techniques with no other information would take people like Shaun Marsh at the expense of people like Steve Smith, but classical, elegant techniques aren't necessarily what wins out!

Bang on - nothing fizzes out a promising career quicker than being anointed by Warnie.

I agree Paul, in the ideal world Pucovski comes into a well balanced and in form batting lineup. Warner and Smith have been our only reliable batsmen since Clarke retired. If we go by that theory we could be waiting until 2025 until we have a reliable line up. Personally I think our top 4 is looking as solid as it has for Australian conditions in a long time. Warner is a beast at home, Labuschagne seems to pass 50 every time he bats and Smith is arguably the best batsman the world has seen since Bradman. Watching him bat he is an amazing talent, let him come in and see what it’s about, and if he gets dropped down the track what does it matter. It happened to Ponting, Clarke Bradman etc etc and we saw how they finished.

Unless Warne's taking about spin bowling, I tend to take his comments with large doses of salt. He perhaps forgets about what happened to more than a few of those young guys who were picked. How did Langer & Hayden go first time round, for example? In an ideal world, Puckovski slots into a well balanced and inform batting lineup, so his team mates can help him through the early steps of his Test career. As it stands,he's likely coming into a side where at least one opener is badly out of form, the other is trying to keep their place and there's no certainty about the number 6 spot either,assuming Wade takes that. Best of luck Will.

I am completely torn between the fear of rushing him and using this season as a future launching pad with Pucovski at 5 or 6.

That’s another thing that hasn’t been mentioned about Pucovski. Not only has he come into first class cricket and taken to it like duck to water, he’s been doing it batting no 3. Most 18 or 19 year olds that make the grade at first class level so young are thrown in at no 5 or 6. Victoria obviously rate him extremely highly.

There's a surprise, Warnie demanding a Victorian be promoted into the test team. He's becoming the new Bill Lawry.

Kiss of Death

Completely agree. Calls for his inclusion have been made somewhat easier due to Travis Head's indifferent form. Besides, he has the game to make the step up. In fact, I believe he will eventually be our #3.