Having achieved a lifelong dream of playing Test Cricket for Australia, Jhye Richardson is now looking forward to realizing his ultimate dream to play World Cup and Ashes for his country, as the paceman is targeting a spot in the national squad for the upcoming prestigious cricket events.

The 22-year-old has earned a reputation with his sensational bowling at the international level in just a couple of few years, but the last few months were more crucial for him, having made Test debut against Sri Lanka recently and picked up 6 wickets in two matches to stack his claim for the Ashes 2019.

Since making debut for Australia in 2017, Richardson has played only 16 international matches but has garnered praise from one and all including his idol Dale Steyn for his crafty fast bowling.

Richardson told reporters in Perth, “I fulfilled one of my dreams, another one of mine is to play in a World Cup and Ashes cricket. Going forward, if that happens, I'm going to be over the moon.”

The paceman further added, “I'll keep plugging away, keep the body right, keep bowling fast and see what happens. I'd love to be involved in both. A World Cup doesn't come around very often and Ashes are very, very special for Australian cricket.”

Meanwhile, Richardson admitted that he was nervous in his debut Test match, saying: “All the nerves released after the first over in Brisbane. You always hope to play Test cricket but I just took it one game at a time … and if you bowl well and you are lucky enough to get rewarded then things happen. Dealing with the emotion of rising to the top of your game to play Test cricket for Australia was the hardest thing. I didn't pick up all that many wickets in Canberra but I am happy with the way I bowled.”

While Jhye has been touted as next big thing for Australian cricket ever since bursting onto the international scene, Richardson does not want to get too ahead of himself and want to make sure to keep himself as grounded as possible.

He added, “It is such a cliché in cricket but it is so important in cricket to stay present and just concentrate on the next thing. If you get too far ahead of yourself, that's where things go downhill.”

On being asked about lessons he learned in his maiden Test series against Sri Lanka, Richardson said, “I was obviously really excited and there was a lot of emotion going through my body, and a lot of nerves, but being able to keep grounded and not release pressure by trying too hard.”

Richardson signed off by saying, “You need to keep things really simple, that was the main one. I'll keep going about it the way I've been going, keep training hard, working hard and if I'm lucky enough for it to happen over the next six months, then that's great.”

(With Cricketnext Inputs)