Richardson's Test readiness to go on trial at the MCG

Jhye Richardson believes playing back-to-back KFC BBL games this weekend could help him get a gauge on whether he is physically ready to play Test cricket again as Australian incumbent Matthew Wade tipped the livewire paceman for a long international career.

Few could have earned more votes for BBL|10's player of the tournament than the electric Richardson so far in the competition and the Western Australian put in another barnstorming performance on Friday that fired the Perth Scorchers to their seventh win from their past eight games.

The 24-year-old has been dynamite with the ball all tournament, taking his wicket tally to 25 with four more scalps against the Hobart Hurricanes at Marvel Stadium, and he showed he is no mug with the bat either with a cameo of 29 off 14 balls.

"He's a star. He's going to be a star," said Wade. "I can't see him going backwards at any stage, I think he's gotten better over the last 12-18 months. 

"There was a lot of talk about him when he started playing for Australia but from what I've seen and what I've faced, he's going to play a lot of games for Australia if he stays on the park. That's the only problem at the moment. 

"I think you're going to be seeing his name for a long, long time."

Richardson's campaign is all the more impressive given the BBL is his first major tournament since undergoing a second shoulder operation last year.

Wade said the paceman would inevitably be on a plane to either South Africa or New Zealand next month for one of Australia's upcoming overlapping tours.

At full fitness, Richardson would appear to be a shoe-in for the limited-overs series against the Kiwis, but his scorching form and memories of his impressive maiden campaign in the Baggy Green in 2019 will surely see his name put forward for the overlapping three-Test tour of South Africa.

Richardson shone in his only two Tests to date, at home to Sri Lanka at the end of the 2018-19 summer, and appeared destined for an Ashes berth before suffering a major shoulder injury in the UAE in March 2019.

Given Australia have had a proven Test performer in James Pattinson outside their XI all summer along with Marsh Sheffield Shield standout quicks Michael Neser and Sean Abbott, they may not need to risk Richardson against the Proteas.

The major question mark will be whether he is up to the rigours of the longest format, given he has not played a first-class game in 14 months.

The Western Australian said he might get some answers to that question on Saturday when the Scorchers play their second T20 game in as many days, this time against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG.

"The beauty of this competition at the moment is we're playing again tomorrow," said Richardson when asked whether he was physically up to Test cricket again. 

"That will be a good little introduction to see if the shoulder and the body is capable of back-to-back days. 

"It would be great if it (Test selection) happens. If not, then I've got a pretty high-class tournament to focus on here.

"Thankfully we've got the later timeslot tomorrow, that'll work in our favour with a little bit of extra sleep and little bit of extra recovery in."

Whichever team he is playing for in the coming months, Aussie fans can expect to see something new from Richardson.

The right-armer has been trialling an instinctive new delivery in the BBL in which he jumps wide of the crease at the last minute in an attempt to surprise batters.

The move, which requires supreme athleticism to maintain balance, worked on the tournament's leading run maker Josh Philippe. Richardson bowled him a slower ball after performing the late shimmy and clean bowled the Sydney Sixers star when he was on 85.

Richardson said he had seen England speedster Mark Wood try a similar ploy.

"It's not something I've really worked on at training," he explained. "It's something that just comes into my head if a batsman is going (hard) and I need to think about something different, then I'll bring it out. 

"It's just another tool to have to make the batsman think about something different. 

"I actually spoke to Josh Philippe after the game versus the Sixers and he said it put him off a little bit.

"That's what I’m hoping for, just to get them to think about something different, or catch them by surprise.

"I have seen (Wood) do it as well. He's a similar stature to me, he's quite small and bowls really fast.

"He's someone I've seen do it a little bit and have a bit of success with it."