'Ashes Test hopeful' Doolan says 'role model' Ponting 'helped him grow'

Tasmania batsman Alex Doolan has been helped by former Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting so much that he is now on the verge of Test selection, according to reports.

According to News.com.au, he scored an unbeaten 161 not out against South Africa in the corresponding Australia A game last season and set this summer up with a match-winning 132 for Tasmania over NSW last Saturday.

From that match on Doolan, 28 this month, has been second to Ponting as Tasmania's most productive batsman, reaching new heights, the report said.

Doolan said that there was no doubt that Ponting had been a huge influence on his career, adding that it is not necessarily what he said or how he has spoken to him, it is also how he has sat back and watched him play, train, eat, drink and everything else.

Doolan is such a fan he is reading Ponting's book but was unable to comment on the former captain's revelations about current skipper Michael Clarke, the report added.

For a significant period in his 48-match first class career Doolan was known for good starts wasted, the report further said.

However, little over a year ago, Ponting and Doolan had master and apprentice partnerships of 151 and 123 against a Victorian attack which included Peter Siddle and James Pattinson, according to the report.