Ricky Ponting believes Cameron Bancroft frontrunner to replace David Warner

Ricky Ponting reckons Cameron Bancroft should be the lead candidate to replace a retiring David Warner. The left-handed opener is set to play his last Test match against Pakistan in January.

Bancroft is the leading run-scorer in the domestic Sheffield Shield competition. He’s amassed 945 runs so far - almost 300 runs more than the next best from previous summer.

Yet, Bancroft was overlooked for Marcus Harris for an extra batting spot in Australia’s Ashes squad. Harris and Matt Renshaw are the other candidates to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order once Warner plays his last at the SCG.

All three will be involved in an audition of sorts when playing for Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan in Canberra next week.

However, Ponting believes Bancroft deserves a call-up for his first Test since 2019.

“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. “If you wind the clock back about six months it might have been a slightly different order than what it is now.

“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.”

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Ponting also believes allrounder Glenn Maxwell should be considered for a Test recall after his sublime show in white-ball formats in India.

Maxwell’s last Test appearance had come in 2017. But his three recent international centuries, two in the ODI World Cup and one in a T20, have made his inclusion in the longest format a suitable option.

“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.”