Stanlake could be one of all-time greats: Ponting

SYDNEY: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who had worked with Billy Stanlake as the team’s assistant coach in the Trans-Tasman T20 tri-series, believes that the 23-year old could be one of the “all-time great fast bowlers.”

“I just love the look of what he’s got,” Ponting told the Cricket Australia website.“He’s almost seven feet tall, bowls close to 150 kilometres an hour, he can swing the new ball. He’s got a little nasty streak in him as well — he likes bowling bouncers.

“When we see him get a bit more of a tank and grow into his body a bit more and put on a little bit of weight, I think he’s someone that could be one of the all-time great fast bowlers. That’s all there ahead of him, we just hope he stays in one piece and becomes the kind of cricketer we all think he can be.”

Stanlake had played only two first-class matches — the last of them in 2015 — and four List A games when he received his maiden call-up to the Australia squad, for the home ODIs against Pakistan in 2017.

More recently in the T20I series against England and New Zealand, Stanlake impressed with his rapid pace and bounce. In all, he claimed eight wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 8.30.Having taken 19 wickets in 17 matches for Adelaide Strikers in the past two BBL seasons at an economy rate of 6.77, he has established himself as a key bowler in T20 cricket.