Hyderabad: Australian young batter Jake Fraser-McGurk is making waves in the cricket fraternity with the recent knock of 55 on the IPL debut against the Lucknow Super Giants. He also has the fastest List A century to his name as he knocked a 29-ball hundred in the Marsh One-Day Cup last year while playing for South Australia. While reflecting on his capabilities, his batting coach, Shannon Young has opined that he might replace David Warner in the Australian team after the left-handed hangs his boots.
“As it will be the last T20 World Cup for Warner in 2024, Jason will have an opportunity to bat at the top of the order after him. T20 cricket now requires high-impact and 200+ strike-rate players and Jason is capable of doing that. I think he will replace Warner after his retirement. The last 12 months have been brilliant for him, he was Melbourne Renegades’ best player in spite of having (Quinton) de Kock, (Adam) Zampa, (Kane) Richardson in the squad," he told ETV Bharat in an exclusive interaction.
Reflecting on what sets Jake apart from others, Shannon said that the freedom to go big helps him score more.
“(He has) always been super talented. We are always focused on little sort of fixes in his batting technique. He's sort of been true to his own technique since he was pretty much young fellow at 13. Most of the stuff we talk with Jake is about playing with freedom The world has seen recently that he has a high impact in terms of freedom that suits his game. He has an ability to pick the line and lengths quicker than any of the other batters,” he added.
Fraser-McGurk has been rated as a bright prospect by Delhi Capitals coach and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting recently. His South Australia coach Jason Gillespie, a former Australian speedster, also recently remarked that the batter has a technique to play Test cricket. Reflecting on Jason’s gameplay, Shannon said that he is capable of playing Test cricket but it will be in his own style.
“He has the technique and the temperament to play Test cricket. Warner is a good example. He made a good T20I debut and hadn't played a first-class game. Jason is perfectly capable of playing Test cricket but it will be his way. If people can embrace and understand that, he will move games so forward in a session that he can win Test matches,” he concluded.
For the record, Jake Fraser-McGurk, a right-handed batter has played 2 ODIs for Australia in which he has scored 51 runs. He has also played 16 first-class matches so far and amassed 550 runs. He made his ODI debut this year in February against West Indies at Sydney.
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