Last month, Jake Fraser-McGurk’s chances of featuring in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad were slim to non-existent.
The Victorian product has never played T20I cricket, while Australia’s top three for the marquee tournament was set in stone – David Warner, Travis Head and incumbent captain Mitchell Marsh.
However, Fraser-McGurk has parachuted himself into World Cup calculations with some jaw-dropping performances in the Indian Premier League, potentially forcing the national selectors to rejig its squad at the eleventh hour.
In five matches for the Delhi Capitals, the 22-year-old has clobbered 247 runs at 49.40 with an otherworldly strike rate of 237.50. He backed up last week’s 18-ball 65 against the Sunrisers with a 27-ball 84 against Mumbai on Saturday, reaching fifty in 15 deliveries on both occasions.
Fraser-McGurk hasn’t just been knocking on the door for national selection; he’s bashed it down and torn it apart like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. He’s become impossible to ignore.
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“The selectors have to be thinking about him now, with the team just a few days away from being selected,” former Australian captain Michael Clarke said last week.
“It’s hard to leave him out to be honest, the way he’s played so far.
“I imagine conditions will be pretty similar in the Caribbean, slower wickets with that extra power in the Powerplay needed.
“He’s done his chances no harm, and I’d love to see him in that squad.”
Highest strike rate in IPL 2024
237.50 – Jake Fraser-McGurk (DC)
214.89 – Abhishek Sharma (SRH)
211.25 – Travis Head (SRH)
195.52 – Dinesh Karthik (RCB)
192.25 – Tristan Stubbs (DC)
* Minimum 50 balls faced
Since switching allegiances and joining South Australia last year, Fraser-McGurk has gone from a fringe state cricketer to one of the sport’s most in-demand young talents.
The right-hander made headlines in October after blasting 125 (38) in a Marsh Cup contest against Tasmania at Adelaide’s Karen Rolton Oval, toppling AB de Villiers’ record for the fastest white-ball century in professional cricket. He only needed 29 deliveries to reach triple figures, a feat only previously achieved on Stick Cricket.
Fraser-McGurk was named the Renegades’ player of the season after top-scoring for the Melbourne-based franchise during last summer’s Big Bash League. After the Renegades missed the finals, he flew to the United Arab Emirates for a three-match cameo with the Dubai Capitals in the ILT20, where his match-winning performances caught the attention of IPL scouts.
Delhi assistant coach Pravin Amre confirmed the IPL franchise had been chasing Fraser-McGurk’s signature since his ILT20 heroics, meaning the Renegades’ failure to qualify for the finals proved a sliding doors moment for the budding star.
Upon returning home to Australia, Fraser-McGurk made his international debut during February’s ODI series against the West Indies, clobbering an 18-ball 41 at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.
Having been ignored in the IPL Auction, the Capitals snapped up Fraser-McGurk as an injury replacement for South African paceman Lungi Ngidi, but he was kept on the sidelines for the opening five matches.
The rising star hasn’t put a foot wrong since.
“(Fraser-McGurk) should (be) the first name on the sheet,” former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh tweeted last week.
“Absolute certainty to be picked and open the batting in the World Cup.”
Fastest T20 fifties by an Australian
14 balls – Pat Cummins, KKR vs MI (2022)
15 balls – Daniel Christian, SS vs AS (2020)
15 balls – Jake Fraser-McGurk, DC vs SRH (2024)
15 balls – Jake Fraser-McGurk, DC vs MI (2024)
16 balls – Travis Head, SRH vs DC (2024)
Fraser-McGurk, earmarked as Glenn Maxwell’s long-term replacement in Australia’s white-ball teams, has a wonderful knack for picking length early, repeatedly clearing the boundary rope with golf-like swings towards mid-wicket. When the boundary is short and the pitch is flat, he’s almost unstoppable during the Powerplay.
Australia names its 15-player touring party for the T20 World Cup this week, but Fraser-McGurk’s IPL feats have no doubt created a major headache for George Bailey and the selection panel.
“I (was) surprised Australia didn’t throw Jake Fraser-McGurk into the T20 series against the West Indies. I think you have got a special talent who could be special now, never mind in the future,” former England captain Michael Vaughan told Fox Cricket earlier this year.
“He looks to me like the perfect young player who should be thrown in because he has no fear. If he bats for 20 balls, you know he is going to get at least 40 runs and that is a massive momentum swing in a T20 game.
“We are all realising now you have just got to (use) ultra-aggression in T20 games. You have only got 120 balls to face. Every now and again, you might have a rebuilder in your team, someone who can just knock it around, but that is only every now and again.
“The way the game is going, you need ultra-aggressive players all the way down the order.”
Fraser-McGurk goes NUTS in 18-ball blitz | 03:06
The prospect of Fraser-McGurk opening the batting alongside Travis Head at this year’s T20 World Cup is mouth-watering for any cricket fan, but the national selectors would be reluctant to pick an uncapped pinch-hitter over Warner, arguably Australia’s greatest all-format cricketer.
Meanwhile, Warner and Marsh are both nursing minor injury concerns they picked up during the IPL – while neither is expected to be ruled out of the T20 World Cup, Fraser-McGurk would almost certainly fill the vacancy if required.
Australia’s T20 World Cup matches will be played in the West Indies, where conditions are considerably less batter-friendly and favour spin. Despite a recent form slump, Warner’s experience and craftiness at the crease could prove a valuable asset in the Caribbean.
Should Fraser-McGurk feature in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, it would most likely be as a reserve batter at the expense of either Matt Short or Josh Inglis.
Short, named player of the BBL for two consecutive seasons, boasts a T20I strike rate of 175.96. He’s versatile, capable of batting anywhere in the top seven while also providing an additional bowing option with his part-time off-spin.
Meanwhile, omitting Inglis from the squad would be a gamble, as it leaves Australia with just one specialist wicketkeeper, 36-year-old Matthew Wade. In such a scenario, the West Australian gloveman would have every right to feel hard done after smacking a career-best 110 (50) during a T20I against India last year.
Additional reporting by Courtney Walsh