Premier Cricket: Monash Tigers teenager Jake Fraser-McGurk is a rising star of Victorian cricket
He’s one of the rising stars in Victorian cricket, has been compared to an Australian limited overs star and a state debut may be imminent. Jake Fraser-McGurk is a cricketer on the rise.
Local Sport
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He’s one of the rising stars in Victorian cricket, has been compared to an Australian limited overs star and a state debut may be imminent.
Meet Monash Tigers teenager Jake Fraser-McGurk. The 16-year-old is rising through the talent pathways with a bullet.
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The hard-hitting batsman has quickly emerged on the Premier Cricket scene in 2018-19, crafting three half-centuries at a run-a-ball in his maiden First XI season.
He was also in line to become the youngest debutant to play an Australian domestic T20 when he was named in Melbourne Renegades’ squad to face Sydney Sixers last month, underlining his supreme talent.
Management group Estrella Sports describes him as “one of the most talented and destructive young batsmen in the country” on its website.
It’s easy to see why. Fraser-McGurk crunched 177 from 113 deliveries for Vic Metro at the recent national under-17s carnival and made his Futures League debut in November.
Monash coach Shannon Young compared him to white-ball star Glenn Maxwell in October when he was named in the Cricket Australia XI for the under-19 national championships.
Fraser-McGurk has nailed down his place in the Tigers’ side this summer, punching out 269 runs at an average of 38.43 in nine games.
Monash captain Daniel Sartori predicted state honours would not be far away for the Mont Albert resident.
“I don’t know what the selectors are thinking, obviously being in the Renegades squad he’s certainly on the radar but if he can finish this year strongly and start next year strong as well, I think by the time he’s 18 you could see him maybe debuting for Victoria,” Sartori said.
“You see players like Mackenzie Harvey, Will Pucovski, they want to get young blokes in, which is great, and I think Jake’s certainly in that quality of player.
“He comes out from ball one and he looks like he’s been batting for two hours.
“He just hits the ball in the middle from the start, he’s got a great set up and he just doesn’t get flustered at the crease, which is a great strength.
“He sees the ball and just hits it and we encourage him to play that way. He’s certainly been like that ever since I’ve seen him play.”
Boroondara Cobras life member Mark Morris was junior co-ordinator when Fraser-McGurk started his cricket journey at the Eastern Cricket Association club.
Morris recalled a kid who was obsessed with cricket.
“From the first time we saw him as a six-year-old, he just loved cricket, he finished Milo and then dragged his dad to the nets for an hour while the seniors were training,” Morris said.
“His dad would just throw balls and balls at him. His dad would just have to drag him away in the end.”
As a seven-year-old Fraser-McGurk was playing under-10s, quickly zooming up the grades.
When he was eligible for under-12s, he was already playing senior cricket (featuring in a C Grade synthetic premiership in 2013-14).
“We got special dispensation (from the ECA) to play him in our seniors when he was 11,” Morris said.
“We wanted to challenge him. People go, ‘let them develop’ but when a kid’s as talented as he was, you just need to challenge them so they keep improving.
“His second under-12A game as a nine-year-old, he hit a six in the last over to win the game and we were nine wickets down.
“Guys were amazed how good he was because he’s absolutely tiny. He’s not one of these kids that’s huge but as a little bloke he’d be doing all the things the senior blokes would be doing.
“He’s certainly the best young player I’ve seen come through Eastern cricket.”
Fraser-McGurk credited his rise through the ranks to gruelling net practice with his father Les as a kid at nearby Surrey Park Cricket Club.
Some sessions would last up to six hours, even going for a hit on Black Saturday when temperatures were above 45 degrees.
Speaking from a Cricket Australia rookie camp, Fraser-McGurk said his earliest memories of cricket were his father’s throw downs.
“Since I was eight years old I’ve always had long net sessions and I can thank my dad for all the hard work and all that has happened. He has been a really good mentor for me,” Fraser-McGurk said.
“Usually he would get injured but he would keep going because he knew how much it meant to me.”
Fraser-McGurk started the season at No.8 in Monash’s line-up but was worked his way up to No.4.
He said he wanted to work on his “mental toughness and my decision making so I can bat longer periods of time”.
“I’ve always tried to be an aggressive player but I guess I just want to keep moving the game along, keep scoring at a healthy rate and not try dig a hole and keep my team in the game for as long as possible,” he said.
“Sarts (Sartori) has put me up the order, he’s backed me and so far I’ve done the job he wanted.”
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