Last Updated on 18 hours ago by Charbel Coorey
Young gun Ollie Peake says the dream is to play Test cricket for Australia, but is wary of getting caught up in the noise around a potential selection in the near future.
The likes of Ricky Ponting have called for the selectors to pick Peake as key batters including Marnus Labuschagne are out of form. Australia have found the going tough with the bat in recent years, including in the recent series against Bangladesh where they were comprehensively beaten in Darwin.
“At the end of last year, I said [Campbell] Kellaway and Peake were the ones that I wanted to have,” Ponting said during the Darwin Test, as quoted by 7 News.
“So they decided not to do that. But my worry is, when do they do that? Are you going to debut these guys in South Africa against Rabada and Jansen and co?
“I think that would be a whole lot harder. So I just feel there’s an opportunity here that may have been missed.”
Ollie Peake dreams of playing Test cricket, but happy to play the waiting game
Peake, who will turn 20 on September 11, has just 13 First Class matches under his belt. He has scored 520 runs at 26 so far, which includes a matchwinning 70* against South Australia in October 2025.
“I’m not worried about the amount of time (it takes) to get there, the dream is definitely to play for Australia and earn the baggy green,” Peake said, as quoted by CODE Sports.
“But I’m happy to wait for as long as it takes. I feel like I’m still learning my game asking heaps of questions of the guys around me.
“I love playing for Victoria as well, to continue to play consistent cricket with the Vics and Renegades in the Big Bash this year. I’m happy to be playing and contributing to wins, whatever comes of that happens. This time last year I had probably only played three professional games.”
Peake has been picked for Australia’s ODI tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa which begins later this month. He showed some good signs in Pakistan and Bangladesh earlier this year, and is looking to build on that by playing his way rather than chasing perfection.
“I’ve been able to see a lot of things, I’ve been able to pick up trends of how people bowl to me,” Peake said.
“I’ve definitely had to go away and improve my game and check back in to how I want to play.
“I think sometimes you can go down a rabbit hole of perfection, but it’s sort of not really chasing that and (instead) accepting the way you play.”
