Playing Test cricket would be a dream come true, says Lockie Ferguson
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New Zealand's tearaway quick Lockie Ferguson, who ended the 2019 World Cup as the tournament's second-highest wicket-taker, has now set his eyes on the game's longest format. Ferguson claimed 21 wickets from just 9 matches in the World Cup, including a brilliant three-wicket haul in the final.
In the course of the last 12 months, both Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer have broken the stereotypes of being "Limited-overs specialists" and have excelled in red-ball cricket to an unimaginable extent. Now, following that trend very soon might be New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson, who is keen to leave his mark in the game's longest format and hopes to do it in the upcoming season.
"I've been pretty vocal about Test cricket being the one I want to play. My whole career, I absolutely love playing the longer format of the game," Ferguson told stuff.co.nz, reported news18.
"A lot of cricketers say they don't really judge themselves until they've played Test cricket, and there's a big Test cricket season coming up," he added.
Ferguson, who is currently recovering from a fractured thumb that he sustained in Sri Lanka last month, is wary of getting too far ahead of himself and has stated that he'll be taking it one match at a time and is confident that things will then fall into place if he keeps putting in the efforts.
"I'm certainly not getting ahead of myself. There's a lot of cricket to be played. A lot of times in the past, I've focused a lot down the line, and it doesn't often help," the 28-year-old said.
"I'll just keep working away game-by-game and those kind of things take care of themselves. It would be a dream come true for sure," he added.
Should he receive a Test call-up, the speedster would all but make his debut against Australia at the new Perth stadium. Incidentally, Ferguson made his ODI debut against Australia in 2016 and is now licking his lips at the possibility of potentially making his Test debut in the fast and bouncy Western Australian wicket.
"I know I made my debut in one-dayers against Australia [in December 2016], and that in itself was a dream come true in a way, debuting at the SCG. Of course these games are going to be big games and the new pitch at Perth looks naughty, as it always is with the old WACA," he signed off.
