Which road to take?
The free-wheeling talent of Jake Fraser-McGurk and the choices he made along the way
The lines between traditional cricket and the boom-bash-boom that's T20 are as close now as they were once Mississippi-wide.
Boom-bash-boom is a crock of crap—my definition of word bait—we understand now, more than ever, that T20 cricket is here to stay. Players won't be remembered for their 160 strike rate like Sachin Tendulkar is for his 51 Test hundreds, but fans won't forget them. And their families will be forever grateful for their boom-bash-boom craving!
Cricket's gatekeepers believe so too.
The T20 World Cup is back before you can draw breath. Unlike its older step-brother, it works on a two-year loop. Australia and New Zealand hosted the previous iteration; this time, it's the West Indies and the United States.
The 2024 tournament will have a record 20 teams, four more than the 2022 tournament. It will start on 1 June and run through to 29 June; England will be the defending champions. The United States will play for the first time as a co-host, and Canada and Uganda will also make their tournament debuts.
However, an emerging name in T20 cricket is missing from the Australian squad—Jake Fraser-McGurk (Rodney).
Fraser-McGurk and his relationship to the T20 format, the broader domain of professional cricket, and Australia's junior pathway system are the primary reasons for this post.
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Steve Smith is also a notable exclusion from Australia's 15-man squad. Of course, selector George Bailey rolled out the tired and tested, "Ultimately, the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign." And, “it’s an experienced squad that covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies.” Thank you so much, George.
On Fraser-McGurk, Bailey added that the youngster was part of, “long conversations”—this being at odds with Fraser-McGurk’s batting.
However, starting with a comparison between Smith and Fraser-McGurk is unfair to the youngster. Australia has enjoyed Smith's prolific run-scoring for the last decade—in all formats. In that time, Fraser-McGurk has unwittingly frustrated all those around him.
Fraser-McGurk is Australia's brightest batting prospect in T20 cricket—you could argue Australia's best batting prospect per se. A free-wheeling right-hander who has already represented Australia in ODI cricket, playing for South Australia, he broke the world record for the fastest List-A century off just 29 balls—mind-boggling to players of my vintage. The ODI debut was equally confronting; Fraser McGurk blasted an 18-ball 41. Now the 21-year-old is showcasing his talent for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL—crashing a 15-ball fifty. He's also displaced David Warner in Ricky Ponting's Capitals team.
Fraser-McGurk was ever-present in Victoria's (CV) emerging pathway system. Now, he's known as 'Rodney', previously 'Rooster'.
The previous moniker was obvious; he was the alpha teenager, able to do most anything with bat and hand—his fielding is also exceptional. Oh, also, this from one of his CV coaches, "If you say "McGurk" fast, it sounds like the noise a rooster makes…"
All this is almost as confusing as the young Fraser-McGurk's batting inconsistencies. One after another, there were disappointing National Championships—that's disappointing compared to the talent at his disposal. I coached the Victorian Country teams, and Rodney played for Metro. As you can imagine, there was always a healthy rivalry—the privileged and the battlers.
It was the 2019 championships (U-19) in Perth. The weather had been hot, and the WA pitches played hard and true. As the tournament progressed, it became apparent that the two Victorian teams would likely meet in a semi-final. Clint McKay coached Metro, me Country. There had been many daily de-briefs during the fortnight; Fraser-McGurk featured in most of the Metro discussion—either how brilliant he'd been, or, "how could he play that ffing shot!" Oh, sorry, "how could he play that ffing shot at that stage of the game!"
The fact that we played each other the following day was irrelevant; we met as usual in one of the coach's rooms and chatted about how the day might look. Rodney had been batting three or four; there had been talk of moving him down the order and giving more balls to some of the other more conservative batters. I was all for this when it came to the semi-final! Joking aside, this is the point of the narrative. Rodney played his way; if he made it through 100 balls, he's probably between 150-160 runs—game over. We will never know if his want to go fast was aimed at progressing his short-format cricket. As coaches, we assumed that pathway cricket aimed to produce future Australian players—and we thought this was Test cricket. To do this, batters needed a defence; they must play spin efficiently, rotating the strike is a must, and handling pace is preferable (although this skill could be learnt later)—these were all assumptions—I was as guilty as any other coach. Perhaps, just perhaps, we all had it wrong, and Rodney had it right?
Steve Smith's career started on a different path than where it will finish. Leg spinners and handy mid-to-lower runs—how wrong could we be? Perhaps Jake Fraser-McGurk's talent will cross lanes, and one day, he will play Test cricket for Australia.
For now, his life is simple. He starts at six and dials it back to four; after this, there's not much interest—unless the ball count is at five or six!
For the record, Country won, and Rodney hit one up the chimney; it matters little now.
He's on his way in the world's elite franchise competition.
This season, Rodney is playing for dimes; next will be a different story. He'll likely be able to buy Dorrigo, NSW.
Good yarn Nick. Well done again