‘Going to get dropped’: Aussie cricket whiz kid ‘selling himself short’
An Aussie cricket great believes David Warner’s obvious successor is “selling himself short”, amid a tough start to his international career.
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Australian cricket great Mark Waugh says young gun Jake Fraser-McGurk’s batting is “selling himself short”.
Fraser-McGurk is opening the batting in ODIs and T20s against Pakistan to kick off the summer of international cricket, but fans are yet to see the 22-year-old at his best.
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He has posted scores of 16, 13, seven and nine in four matches at the top of the order so far against Pakistan.
His opening partner Matt Short isn’t doing much better, posting scores of one, 19, 22 and seven.
Seen as David Warner’s long-term replacement in Australia’s white ball sides, Fraser-McGurk is yet to produce the type of form in the green and gold that saw him smash a world record 29-ball One-Day century for South Australia last year.
At times the young opener has looked like he’s wanted to hit every ball for six like a golfer on the first tee, but Waugh urged him to make a “change in mindset” at the start of his innings.
“Obviously he’s a phenomenal talent,” Waugh told news.com.au.
“You don’t do what he’s done in the IPL, I think he made a hundred off 29 balls last season, you don’t do that without having great hand eye co-ordination.
“He’s an extremely clean hitter of the ball. He’s got all the attributes to be an exceptional batsmen in white ball cricket and red ball cricket, if he keeps improving.
“But he’s clearly not the finished article. You’ve got to remember he’s very young. He’s quite inexperienced so he’s got a bit to learn.
“There’s probably a couple of things he could concentrate on that will improve his game quickly.
“I think he probably doesn’t have to hit the ball in the air as much as he does. He’s always looking to go in the air.
“I don’t care how good you are, if you continue to hit the ball in the air, you’re going to need a lot of luck to get runs. That’s one thing, he doesn’t need to go aerial all the time”
Waugh encouraged Fraser-McGurk to focus on spending more time of the crease and letting the runs flow.
“At the moment his role or the perceived role is to get the team off to a bit of a flyer — get 30 off 12 balls or 40 off 20,” Waugh said.
“But I think he’s selling himself short if that’s his role. His role should be to bat 20 overs.
“If he bats 20 overs, he’ll make a hundred. To do that, I think he’s just got to change his mindset.
“You don’t have to attack every ball. You can defend a ball. If he gets his shot selection right, his natural talent will take over.
“There’s a few things he can work on but clearly he’s very talented.”
Speaking on Fox Cricket’s coverage of Australia’s win over Pakistan in the first T20, Warner said he doesn’t expect Fraser-McGurk to change his game to take a more conservative approach.
“We were talking about whether his game plan will change. Well it won’t,” Warner said.
“He’s happy with the way that he approaches the game, (but) he’d like a few more runs.”
Adam Gilchrist said: “He’s dynamite, he’s box office.
“I hope someone’s saying to him there’s no shame in maybe backing off a bit. You don’t have to do what everyone expects what you’re going to do.
“He probably rode the emotions a little bit.”
“If you’re not scoring runs, the solution to that is you’re going to get dropped,” Warner added.
“That method he thinks is going to work for him, but sometimes you might have to tinker with that a little bit if you’re not scoring runs.”
Australia vs Pakistan T20 series
16 November: SCG, Sydney
18 November: Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Originally published as ‘Going to get dropped’: Aussie cricket whiz kid ‘selling himself short’
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