When Australia unveiled its T20 World Cup squad last week, the omission of two names stood out to most observers — Jake Fraser-McGurk and Steve Smith.
Smith’s omission was somewhat of a surprise given he’s represented Australia at every World Cup for the past 10 decades, but it had been coming.
The former Australian captain is one of the most prolific Test batters on the planet, but his T20 form has been lacking for some time. His accumulation style of play alongside pure, unadulterated bashers of a cricket ball in the top order of Australia’s T20 teams has not made sense.
Meanwhile, Fraser-McGurk’s name being absent from the list of 15 was extremely surprising for most of us looking on from the outside, but not for the player himself.
Speaking on the Willow Talk podcast, the 22-year-old commended the selectors for giving him clarity and offered a refreshing perspective on his omission.
“It didn’t really bother me a hell of a lot because I wasn’t in this position to feel like I’ve earnt that yet. World Cup cricket is a lot different to IPL cricket,” he said.
Fraser-McGurk has been identified as a precocious talent coming through the Australian ranks since scoring a half-century on his Shield debut for Victoria at just 17, but runs haven’t flowed as easily off the right-hander’s bat in the five years since.
He averages just 18.96 with the bat in 16 Shield matches. And while his white ball record is a little more impressive — averaging 32.81 at a strike rate of 143.83 in 21 matches — they’re hardly numbers that knock down a selector’s door.
Despite still showing flashes of his explosive ball-striking ability, especially in a 29-ball century during a one-day outing for South Australia last summer, Fraser-McGurk had virtually no profile outside of Australia coming into 2024.
The Aussie wasn’t initially slated to even play in the Indian Premier League this season, before being picked up as an injury replacement for Lungi Ngidi on the advice of Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting after an impressive stint with the Dubai Capitals in the ILT20.
The move has been a game-changer, both for the franchise and the player himself.
Since arriving in India, Fraser-McGurk has exploded, announcing himself on the global stage with some of the most breathtaking knocks you’re ever likely to see on a cricket field.
Fraser-McGurk has so far plundered 259 runs in six innings at an eye-watering strike rate of 233.33 and an average of 43.16. His strike rate is far and away the highest of any player to have scored over 200 runs so far in the tournament. For comparison’s sake, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma is the next closest, with his 326 runs coming at a strike rate of 195.20.
“I haven’t even had time to sort of reflect on it, it’s just happened all so quick,” Fraser-McGurk said of his meteoric rise.
“To be here [in India] now, I don’t even really have the words for it. I don’t really understand how it’s happened so quick … but for it to happen so quick, it’s been nice.
“It’s like an AFL grand final every game, it’s just immense, the atmosphere is crazy. I think it’s almost too loud where it doesn’t even bother you when you play. I think I get more nervous playing a Shield game when there’s 200 people there than I do playing an IPL game with 75,000 there in Ahmedabad.”
On the back of a stellar IPL campaign, Fraser-McGurk probably walks into the top order of all but two teams participating in the World Cup. Unfortunately for him, Australia happens to be one of those two.
It is easy to be a prisoner of the moment when it comes to sports, and by doing so you can forget just how destructive Australia’s top order was in last year’s 50-over World Cup.
A rejuvenated David Warner led the Aussies with 535 runs at an average of 48.63, Travis Head returned from a broken hand to smash 329 runs, including a match-winning 137 in the final, and Mitch Marsh scored 441 runs at an average of 49.
If Fraser-McGurk isn’t taking the top three spots, then it would result in Australia shoe-horning him into an unfamiliar spot, something he’s not keen on doing anyway.
“You’ve got David Warner, our best opener in three formats, you’ve got Travis Head, who is lighting it up over here and has lit it up the past 18 months, and Mitch Marsh is the same, and he’s also the captain,” he said.
“I can’t really see myself batting at five or six because we’re pretty set there with Tim David, Cam Green, those sorts of guys. The way I think about it is that’s fine, there’s hopefully going to be more time for that [World Cup appearances].”
At just 22 years of age, if Australia handles his development properly, it should get a handful of global tournaments with Fraser-McGurk at the top of the order.
Australia would be wise to look at the plight of Indian opener Prithvi Shaw when figuring out how to handle the future of its prodigious young star.
Like the Aussie, Shaw was anointed as the next best thing from a young age in India and was quickly ushered into the Test team as a 19-year-old.
The instant results were great — Shaw was named player of the match on Test debut after scoring 134 against the West Indies. He became India’s second-youngest Test centurion after Sachin Tendulkar with that knock, but the tide soon turned against him.
International cricket is ruthless. There is far less margin for error as a batter on pitches that aren’t as batter-friendly as the ones you see in the IPL.
In less than three full years after his Test debut, Shaw had been found out by bowlers around the world and was axed. After last representing India in a T20 against Sri Lanka in 2021, Shaw is still waiting for his next chance. His is a cautionary tale for those anxious to see Fraser-McGurk in Australian colours.
Not being in Australia’s international set-up doesn’t mean Fraser-McGurk’s game isn’t developing at a rapid rate. He is coached by Ponting, who is widely considered to be one of the brightest minds the game has to offer, and the partnership is already paying major dividends.
“What he’s said to me that’s really stuck with me is, I hit the ball a lot further when I swing at 80 per cent instead of 100 per cent,” he said.
“You just have to find the middle and it’ll go for six. I was like, ‘OK that’s good’, because when I swing harder my head moves.
“I did look at the footage of all the games I’ve been playing apart from the IPL and he’s right, when I do swing quite hard, my head is moving as I train on the ball.
“He is just someone who can pick up those little things that you’re not going to notice … it absolutely blew my mind.”
If Australia plays its cards right, Fraser-McGurk will blow the minds of not only Aussie fans, but cricket fans around the world for years to come.
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