Jake Fraser-McGurk the hard-hitting Aussie opener has been heavily criticised for his single-gear approach in his batting. He burst onto the scene in the IPL scoring quick runs at the top and was regarded as the next big thing in T20s. But his batting style seems to have backfired at Aussies as he can not play in any other gear and build his innings.
After Australia defeated Pakistan by two wickets on Monday, doubts were raised about Jake Fraser-McGurk’s style of play and he was urged to develop a “second gear” in his batting. In Australia’s international summer opener at the MCG, the 22-year-old left for 16 runs off 14 balls, while partner Matt Short was unable to join him with a score of just one.
The three-match ODI series between Australia and Pakistan began on Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with Australia leading 1-0. Even though the world champions prevailed, Ian Healy has not been pleased with their performance. The former wicketkeeper-batter felt that Australia needed “a lot” to learn.
Ian Healy Not Impressed By Jake Fraser-McGurk And Matt Short
Healy was not too impressed by the fact that Australia needed just over 33 overs to win the match.
“We are gearing up for a Champions Trophy, so there aren’t many trials before a team has to be selected. We should be playing these games properly but they are treating it like a schoolyard. It wasn’t good enough. We won but just and with 17 overs to spare,” he said.
“We have got a lot to learn,” Healy said on SENQ.
Healy also expressed his displeasure over Australia’s batting in the series opener and felt that the team’s shot selection was “poor”.
“Our shot selection was poor and to me, Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk were playing like schoolyard bullies. The disregard for the conditions wasn’t good enough. The (Australian) bowlers and Mitch Starc said during the innings break that the pitch was two-paced and uneven in bounce. So what do we do? We think we can go out and slog the Pakistani bowlers all over the place,” he said.
“The batters didn’t learn anything from what the bowlers had told them, they didn’t regard the opposition enough. When the Pakistan bowlers got on a roll, they were hard to suppress. The Australian boys’ egos weren’t able to be put away for even half an hour. Inglis and Smith did it and then Pat Cummins had to do it,” he added.
Aus Vs Pak 1st ODI
Pakistan battled to 203-all out after batting first. With 44 off 71, Pakistan captain Muhammad Rizwan became his team’s top scorer of the match. Additionally, Naseem Shah made a significant contribution by scoring 40 runs off 39 balls.
Australia’s standout player was Mitchell Starc, who took three wickets while giving up 33 runs in his ten overs. Australia’s run chase did not get off to a strong start as they lost both of their opening batsmen, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short, in the first four overs.
Later, the hosts won thanks to strong efforts from Steven Smith and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis. Josh Inglis missed his half-century by just one run, while Smith scored forty-four. In the end, Australia won with 99 balls remaining. On Friday, Australia and Pakistan will play their second One-Day International.
Jake Fraser McGurk will have to work on his batting and improve on building his innings in order to score big runs in the ODI Format. Jake Fraser-McGurk has huge potential to pile on big runs for Australia but he has to be patient at times.
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