Australia T20 World Cup squad: Will selectors live to regret bold call to bench Jake Fraser-McGurk?
It looked like Australia had caught lightning in a bottle on the eve of the World Cup – with a young star ripping the IPL apart. By leaving him out, they’ve put a target on the team, writes BEN HORNE.
The bold decision to leave Jake Fraser-McGurk out of the World Cup inadvertently heaps enormous pressure on Australia to win the tournament – or at least go close.
Even if Australia finish dignified semi-finalists or runners-up, if the batting fails in the knockout games you can expect the first comment will be, ‘would they be crowing if they had the Rooster?’
It’s too early to be declaring the omission a ‘bad call’, but when you overlook a wunderkind in the electric form Fraser-McGurk is displaying in the Indian Premier League, the heat immediately rises on everybody else.
The reality is, as big as the hype has become, Fraser-McGurk has had three big IPL matches out of six in a particularly batter friendly tournament and has never actually played a T20 international.
Conditions at the World Cup could be a lot different to the roads served up for the IPL.
But by not being in the West Indies, the legend of what he might have been able to do, will only grow in the eyes of the public if other top order stars fail.
This much can be said: Australia’s selectors have guts.
They would have known the backlash that was coming their way after Fraser-McGurk smashed 84 off 27 in his last innings before the squad was picked.
But they’ve backed themselves and refused to be swayed by public opinion or the strong views of ex-greats and respected voices like Tim Paine and Mark Waugh who declared Fraser-McGurk was a must-have.
George Bailey’s selection panel is not flawless, but they have won more than they lose and have a good record.
Let’s remember, Australia is vying to hold cricket’s first-ever ‘Triple Crown’ in the West Indies – that is the World Test Championship trophy, the 50-over World Cup and the T20 World Cup.
At last year’s ODI World Cup, the selectors showed nerves of steel to not replace the injured Travis Head in the early part of the tournament, even though Australia was one more loss away from having their campaign ended.
It was brave, because had Australia been eliminated it would have been a hard call to explain.
But Head justified their significant show of faith by delivering with matchwinning performances in the semi-final and final and Australia won a World Cup no one thought they would win – ranking as arguably the country’s best ever.
The playing group has responded well to the culture Bailey has established of not jumping at shadows or reacting impulsively.
Selectors virtually knew what their 15-man squad was weeks ago, and ultimately it appears they have stayed loyal to those convictions (albeit there is still a month to go and late changes can still be made for injuries).
Results say they don’t need to be snatching at anything.
But even so, this is an especially big call.
Fraser-McGurk, with Shane Warne’s No.23 on his back, is not your everyday rising cricket talent.
Like Warne and David Warner and Glenn Maxwell, he is an instant superstar and so every call made about him is bigger.
In an ageing group, you sense Australian fans are craving a new idol, a Peter Pan with pads on.
He averages 18 in first-class cricket, but he’s not a first-class cricketer (not yet at least), he’s a human powder keg.
Had selectors left out an Ashton Agar, a Nathan Ellis, a Josh Inglis or even a Cameron Green – they might have been questioned, but it would have barely registered as a ripple compared to the hostile reaction they can expect for not calling in Fraser-McGurk.
For better or worse, that’s brave selecting.
Fraser-McGurk probably would have struggled to make the first-choice XI with the top four of David Warner, Head, Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell so proven and established.
Warner is injured and Maxwell has only just returned to the IPL from a self-imposed rest, but both men were instrumental in Australia’s last World Cup triumph, which was only a few short months ago.
Those quick to query Warner’s place in the team might remember he was being hailed arguably Australia’s most successful ever World Cup batsman back in November.
But you can’t help but feel opposition teams might be quietly breathing a sigh of relief that Fraser-McGurk won’t be there this June lurking ominously somewhere in the 15-man squad.
Teams are still figuring him out and in World Cups, you’ve got a new opponent every few days and there’s no time for rivals to get in a groove against you.
That’s why this is one of the most controversial selection decisions of recent times – but ultimately the proof will be in the pudding.
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