The plaudits are coming as thick and fast as wickets for Sean Abbott, with Australian Twenty20 captain Aaron Finch tipping the NSW allrounder to enjoy a long and fruitful international career.
Finch praised the character of Abbott as he put in another outstanding display on Friday night in the Sydney Sixers' eight-wicket Big Bash League win over the Melbourne Renegades at the SCG.
Just a fortnight ago, it remained to be seen whether Abbott would pick up a ball again in the wake of the Phillip Hughes tragedy but he has ended any doubts with a string of match-turning performances.
While Nic Maddinson was a deserving man of the match after blasting 84 off 54 balls to guide the Sixers to victory, Abbott took 2-20 off four overs and was instrumental in restricting the Renegades to a modest total of 7-154.
He took the key wickets of Finch (20) and Dwayne Bravo (22) just as both appeared poised to up the run rate.
It came only seven days after he took 6-14 for NSW during Queensland's second innings of their Sheffield Shield clash at the same ground.
In both performances, Abbott displayed great pace, control and movement.
Having been blooded at international level in Australia's T20 and ODI series against Pakistan recently, Abbott had already been in the frame for World Cup selection and has only enhanced his chances over the past week.
Finch branded Abbott the complete cricketer and saw big things on his horizon.
"The character that he's shown has been unbelievable," Finch said.
"We saw when he played for Australia in the UAE, he performed unbelievably in both the T20 and one-day game.
"He's someone with a huge future in international cricket. For someone who can bowl the way he does, he can smack them out of the park and is a world-class fielder. He's got the makings of a long-term international player."
Of the 20 runs which Abbott conceded, 10 came in the first two balls of his first over when Finch slapped him for a six and a four, however the Sixers' paceman had his revenge an over later when he had the national T20 captain caught in the deep.
Maddinson was full of praise for his teammate and his ability to keep his overs tight.
"I thought Sean Abbott's spell was outstanding ... He's bowling well and with pretty good pace," he said.
"Getting hit for six first ball and to come back and only go for 20 from his four overs is a pretty outstanding effort."
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