Jake Fraser-McGurk has taken over as the opening batsman from David Warner. Warner feels that the 22-year-old can play a part in both Australia’s white-ball teams and may even be a future member of the Test team.
After spending a lot of time together in the IPL as Delhi Capitals players and more recently at the T20 World Cup, where Fraser-McGurk joined as a travelling reserve, Warner has developed into a mentor to the young player.
With Australia’s Super Eight departure, David Warner international career came to an end. As a result, both limited-overs formats are about to enter a new era at the top of the order.
In an Instagram Stories picture from Wednesday, Warner wrote, “All yours now champion,” beside a photo of himself and Fraser-McGurk enjoying a drink.
After the team’s departure was revealed, Warner gave his approval to Fraser-McGurk’s abilities as an opener in T20s and ODIs while addressing Australian media.
“I think he’s definitely got the ability to definitely do that,” Warner told News Corp and cricket.com.au, adding, “Every time I put something out there I become a selector [but].”
“He has the ability to lock it in. Like me, you [also need to learn] how to play.Cricket in 50 overs. One thing I took away from Twenty20 is that. I didn’t really understand how to play one-day cricket, so after seven games, I was dropped.
From a short-term standpoint, he will have an amazing career, particularly hitting in Australia, if he discovers that. The world’s best wickets.”
As Australia begins to look towards the future, Fraser-McGurk, who played two ODIs against West Indies in February and hit 51 runs off 23 balls across two innings, as well as earlier in the season hammered a world-record 29-ball one-day century in the Marsh Cup, will probably be included for September’s tours of Scotland and England.
Fraser-McGurk, though, has downplayed the idea of replacing Warner as the red-ball opener after determining that he wasn’t cut out for the Sheffield Shield as an experiment at the top of the order for South Australia. Having earned his first-class century at No. 6 earlier in the season, he opened with 19 runs in four innings.
“It wasn’t me last year when I was asked to open the batting in shield cricket. It was agony to see Xavier Bartlett bowl massive outswingers on a green top at Adelaide Oval. That’s one thing I won’t be able to do, so hopefully won’t do that again,” he said to the Unplayable Podcast.
Warner was heartened by Fraser-McGurk’s ambition to play first-class cricket, despite the competing demands he would face from the franchise scene.
Has he committed to a Test match? To establish himself, I believe he’ll need to have a breakthrough year in the upcoming 12 to 18 months,” Warner remarked. “I believe that in order for our names to be mentioned there, we all needed to score hundreds of points.
“Hopefully, he stays with shield cricket this year. He will receive a substantial amount of money from these Twenty20 competitions, therefore it will be up to him and his management to keep him motivated and focused on his goals. But I sincerely hope he does, as I am aware of his thoughts. He’d likes to play cricket using red balls.”
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