Jake Fraser-McGurk’s dominant IPL form could have seen the 22-year-old in contention to play against Australia
Playing under Ricky Ponting, Jake Fraser-McGurk has been putting on a show in the IPL, but it was not enough to get him into the Australian men’s T20 World Cup squad. If he had made different choices, could he have been representing a different country?
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If given the option, would England selectors pick Jake Fraser-McGurk for the Twenty20 World Cup?
It’s a moot point, although the Indian Premier League sensation is closer to England eligibility than most. Like Steve Smith, Fraser-McGurk holds a British passport as a result of his parentage.
Rest assured, there is no serious chance of him playing for the old enemy. Fraser-McGurk already represented Australia in two one-day internationals and is fully committed to staking a multi-format career for his country of birth.
But the England quirk serves to underscore the fact if Australian selectors can’t find a way to wedge Fraser-McGurk into their 15-man squad, then the most in-form batter in the world’s leading Twenty20 franchise league won’t play at next month’s global event.
That much is obvious. He can’t seek a mid-year trade to Uganda or Oman.
It’s hard to pick a player unluckier than Fraser-McGurk not to be in a World Cup squad for the tournament to be held in the Caribbean and United States.
Indian batter Rinku Singh and paceman T Natarajan are stiff, while England’s Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan and South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen and Lungi Ngidi are all accomplished international players who had claims to inclusion in their respective nations’ squads, but none compare to Fraser-McGurk.
Of the top 64 run scorers in this season’s IPL, only one has a strike rate higher than 200. That’s Fraser-McGurk, whose 309 runs for Delhi have come off just 131 balls - a strike rate of 235.87.
This is outlier territory, even accounting for a player batting in the power play.
It’s not a huge sample size, but nor is it tiny either.
His fourth half-century from just seven innings this season helped nudge the Capitals towards what would be an unlikely playoffs berth via a win over the Rajasthan Royals.
But as stressed by selection chair George Bailey when confirming the 22-year-old’s absence from the squad last week, Fraser-McGurk’s issue is that he bats at the top of the order, an area in which Australia already has captain Mitch Marsh, veteran David Warner and the red-hot Travis Head.
The fates of Fraser-McGurk, Marsh and Warner are dramatically intertwined. If not for Warner’s lifetime captaincy ban, he - rather than Marsh - may be leading Australia to this tournament.
If not for Marsh’s hamstring injury early in the IPL season, Fraser-McGurk may not have been afforded any game time for Delhi, coached by Ricky Ponting.
And if not for Warner’s ongoing hand complaint, Fraser-McGurk may not have held his spot in the XI.
He is surely now undroppable. Delhi was 1-4 before Fraser-McGurk came into the side, while the Capitals are now 6-6 and a genuine show to make the final four, with games against lowly Royal Challengers Bengaluru and fellow playoffs contender Lucknow Super Giants - coached by Justin Langer - to come.
It is still unclear whether Warner will be fit for the final two regular season matches as he recovers from the niggling hand issue.
Ponting will not necessarily have to choose between the Bull and the Rooster.
West Indian Shai Hope shapes as the man to make way from Delhi’s top three if Warner is ready to play alongside Fraser-McGurk, although one of that pair may need to drop to No. 3 given Indian Abishek Porel is also flying as an opener.
Delhi would arguably be doing Fraser-McGurk a favour by pushing him down the order once Warner is back, providing the Melbourne Renegades and South Australian tyro the chance to show he is not a one-trick pony should a middle order vacancy arise unexpectedly. But Ponting is trying to win now, and there is no self-interested reason for him to shift a player on such a tear.
In any case, with Warner and Marsh remaining under injury clouds, Fraser-McGurk appears to be a no-brainer call to be a reserve player for the World Cup. Then again, many thought him to be a no-brainer in for the 15.
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