While national selection boss George Bailey asserts that Jake Fraser-McGurk, an aggressive batsman, will have to earn his way through a mountain of Sheffield Shield runs like every other batting prospect, Ricky Ponting could be interested in the young player “fast tracked” towards Test cricket.
Fraser-McGurk’s spectacular 41(18) comeo against the West Indies in the third ODI stunned the cricket world. The young player needed to be brought up quickly to the Test team to replace David Warner, according to former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
Players like Jake Fraser-McGurk, according to Ponting, should get as much exposure to international cricket as possible in order to hone their skills and fully maximize their plethora of talent.
“Consistent performances in Shield cricket is really important” – George Bailey on Jake Fraser-McGurk
Jake Fraser-McGurk’s scrumptious performance against the West Indies in just his second ODI, Bailey said, “thrilled” the selection panel and acknowledged the young tyro had a “high, high degree of talent.”
Nevertheless following the announcement of Australia’s Test team for the New Zealand tour, George Bailey addressed the media and said the following on Jake Fraser-McGurk:
“His ability to learn about how to best utilise that talent across the formats will be really interesting over the next coming years. His opportunity to go back and get some really good, consistent performances in Shield cricket is really important.”
Even though Jake Fraser-McGurk only averages 22 in first-class cricket, he impressively scored 278 runs in 10 Shield innings this season to get his first-ever red-ball century for South Australia.
Bailey stated on Friday, following the announcement of the Test team for the forthcoming tour of New Zealand, that it would be remarkable to further nurture his apparent skill by returning to the Shield level and scoring a lot of runs for South Australia.
Australia’s Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc
“We’ve got some pretty good options at top of the order in T20 side”- George Bailey on Jake Fraser-McGurk not being a part of T20I squad
Jake Fraser-McGurk has had an incredible start to his international career, but he is not included in the T20Is against the West Indies and New Zealand. George Bailey has stated that the selectors are keeping an eye on the young player, even though he thinks Australia have enough options for the T20 World Cup in 2024.
“There’s clearly a high, high degree of talent with Jake. We feel like we’ve got some pretty good options at the top of the order in that T20 side, Even then there’s a couple of other guys who have batted in the middle or have batted at the top in T20 cricket who can cover as well. The talent’s there with Fraser-McGurk, he’s one we’re certainly keeping a close eye on,” Bailey elaborated.
Australia will play three T20Is at home against the West Indies prior to traveling to New Zealand. The first T20I was played on Friday, February 9, at Hobart, which was a high-scoring thriller between Australia and the West Indies, where Australia emerged victorious by 11 runs.
Also Read: AUS vs WI: Ricky Ponting Says Jake Fraser-McGurk Reminds Him A Bit Of David Warner