He has set his sights on earning the Baggy Green.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder Mitchell Owen has seen a sharp rise in his career and has slowly made a name as a T20 batter. After his heroics in last season’s Big Bash League (BBL), he has had gigs in various T20 leagues, including the Indian Premier League (IPL).
However, Owen has set his sights on earning the Baggy Green and playing Test cricket for Australia and confirmed his desire to play for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield to make a case for national selection. While talking to Cricbuzz, he said that the dream of playing Test cricket is “very relevant”.
“Every Australian kid who plays cricket, it’s their dream to wear the baggy green. I also can’t wait to get back and play some Shield cricket for Tassie and put the whites back on. That dream of wearing the baggy green is still very, very relevant. And I look forward to hopefully chasing that too.”
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He has the backing of the legendary Ricky Ponting, who has kept Owen under his wings and is guiding him to become an all-format batter by taking him everywhere he coaches. Owen praised his coaching abilities, highlighting how Ponting makes everyone feel confident, and the former Australian captain clearly rates him highly, suggesting Owen has the ingredients to be a solid Test match player, like Ponting himself.
Mitchell Owen made his First Class debut for Tasmania against South Australia in the Sheffield Shield 2023 and played as an all-rounder for the team. He couldn’t open his account in his only innings while batting in the lower order, but took two wickets in the first innings before going wicketless in the next to cap off a shaky debut in red-ball cricket.
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Overall, he has played 14 First Class games, scoring 558 runs at an average of 26.57 in 23 innings, including five fifties. Additionally, he has 16 wickets at 48.81 runs apiece, with 3/38 his best figures.
Clearly, he needs to work a lot on his red-ball game as an all-rounder, for numbers aren’t too great, and several better players are ahead in the queue with their more consistent performances in this domestic red-ball competition. However, the talent is palpable, and there’s no reason why Owen can’t crack the longest format, especially since Ponting rates him big time.
His first focus should be on improving his middling Sheffield Shield numbers; that is the main route for national selection for all Australian players. What goes in his favour is his all-round ability, and Australia would want more utility options in their Test squad, but Owen still has a long way to go before turning that dream into reality.
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