Newcastle teenage sensation Jason Sangha should be fast-tracked into the Test arena to strengthen Australia’s meagre batting stocks.
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That’s the opinion of former Test spinner and ABC commentator Kerry O’Keeffe, who told Fox Sports’ The Back Page Live on Tuesday night that the 19-year-old was Australia’s “saviour”.
“If he was a thoroughbred, his breeding would be Joe Root out of Virat Kohli,” O’Keeffe said after watching Sangha score his first Sheffield Shield century for NSW at the SCG.
“This is the guy who can save the Centre of Excellence, who can save the development programs.
“This is a player of the ages. He is the best, technically, we’ve had since [Ricky] Ponting.”
Sangha (117) and fellow youngster Jack Edwards (101) rescued NSW from 5-181 against Tasmania on Tuesday, lifting the Blues to 9-442 declared.
The teenager, who is playing his fifth first-class game, made 133 for the Cricket Australia XI against England in Townsville last year.
“Jason Sangha, I would fast-track him,” O’Keeffe said. “He is only 19, but he has got a technique that would get him runs on most decks.
“And that’s the thing: we win at home, we go to India and England and get beaten. Why? Technically, we’re not good enough.
“We’ve got a player who’s come out of our system – Jason Sangha, from Newcastle, who plays for Randwick-Petersham, who can bat in the middle order as a teenager and do the job when he matures.”