Ex-England captain picks Aussie Ashes bolter

Jhye Richardson has only played once for Australia but he's already caught the eye of both his skipper as well as an English Ashes-winning legend.

Richardson bowled with zip and vigour in his debut against Sri Lanka in the second T20I on Sunday night, finishing with 1-24 from his three overs.

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His selection came largely off the back of a man-of-the-match performance in the KFC Big Bash League final, in which he claimed 3-30 to help Perth Scorchers to a third title in four years.

And his selection in that match over experienced Scorchers quick Jason Behrendorff only came about due to a contemplative moment of meditation from his coach, Justin Langer, who again played the role of mentor with Australia on Sunday night.

Now Richardson, 20, is impressing plenty more well-credentialed people, with ex-England captain Michael Vaughan even boldly predicting the young paceman would make a surprise appearance at some stage during next summer's Ashes.

Australia T20I captain Aaron Finch was another suitably pleased with the quick's efforts in his maiden international outing.

"He bowled excellently, didn’t he?" Finch said. "He's fast and he can move the ball and he has a lot of skill with his slower balls as well.

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"I thought he was outstanding, very impressed with him on debut.

"The way the guys bowled up front and through the middle part, I thought that was top drawer."

Given the abundance of fast-bowling talent throughout Australia, Vaughan's prediction might appear a particularly brave one; the likes of James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, Chadd Sayers and Joe Mennie are just a few among many looking to press their claims for another – or a first – crack at Baggy Green.

By contrast, Richardson has played just one first-class fixture in his career to date, debuting for the Warriors last March but struggling to get a look-in since in a squad that boasts no shortage of fast-bowling talent.

And the right-armer's immediate goals are perhaps more fittingly modest.

"Just to get the body right over winter," Richardson told cricket.com.au last week. "I'll have a bit of a holiday and then get straight back into pre-season back home and make sure the body is OK and keep trucking along.

"Then I'll see what I can do about Matador Cup and then going into first-class cricket."