The World Cup dream for Australia’s batting sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk is not completely dashed but the dynamo needs a significant stroke of fortune to travel to the Caribbean.
The 22-year-old is blitzing the Indian Premier League, rates among the most promising batters in the world and, according to intelligence Australian selectors have received from Delhi, is eager to soak in every lesson he can in order to become even more dominant.
But despite his outstanding IPL deeds, Australian selectors overlooked him for the T20 World Cup team travelling to the West Indies and USA in June, a decision which left former great Mark Waugh flabbergasted.
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Australia names T20 World Cup Squad | 04:42
There is a caveat.
Australia’s selection panel chair George Bailey said there was some flexibility surrounding selection ahead of the nation’s first T20 match against Oman in Barbados on June 5.
Australia will monitor the fitness of key players including veteran opener David Warner, who has bone bruising to his hand, and captain Mitch Marsh, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, over the next month.
Selectors will also wait to add a reserve to the squad of 15 players named on Wednesday, with Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Spencer Johnson and Tanveer Sangha options for the role.
“We are comfortable with the balance, as it sits, but there is a lot of cricket to be played, so if that changes, we are open to change,” Bailey said on Wednesday.
“There would need to be a reason and whether that is through injury, form is clearly a metric, fitness is a metric, so it is just about making sure that balance is maintained. If he is there, he will be there for a reason.
“As you are when you are trying to pick a squad of 15, you are after balance, you are trying to have that ability to have the people on the selection table when you need them. He is in that mix. Matt Short, Tanveer Sangha and Spencer Johnson are all guys who are firmly in the mix for that.”
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Bailey said as well as Fraser-McGurk has been playing, he had faith in the established top order led by Warner, World Cup hero Travis Head and Marsh, the team skipper.
“It’s obviously been fantastic to see Jake play as well as he has the last couple of weeks in the IPL. It has been wonderful,” Bailey said.
“But ultimately … we are looking to get that balance that we want in terms of getting across there and playing each game against different opponents, different venues, different surfaces.
“His form has been great of late and that is fantastic. But the way we are functioning at the top of the order, with the three guys we have there, has been really strong as well.”
Waugh, a Fox Cricket analyst, said it was “hard to fathom” how the excitement machine had been left out of the Australian squad.
“(It is) a very strong squad, no doubt, that should be hard to beat, but to leave JFM out is quite frankly hard to fathom. I would also have had the Matt Short in,” Waugh said.
Fraser-McGurk, who scored 41 against the West Indies in an ODI in February, has been in dashing form for the Delhi Capitals over the past month.
The right-hander has made three half centuries in six innings, including an astonishing 84 from 27 balls in Delhi last week, with the Victorian doing his best work at the top of the order.
Quizzed as to whether he believed Fraser-McGurk had the ability to shift down the order and play as a closer, Bailey said he was yet to see that in the South Australian representative.
“Not at this stage. I am not sure how much work he has actually done in those conditions but it looks like the top of the order is where he is best suited,” he said.
“We have seen some players perform in some different batting roles to cover off that eventuality but if he was to get an opportunity, it would be at the top.”
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Although Fraser-McGurk was overlooked, Bailey said he had received encouraging reports about the prodigy from the Delhi Capitals, where former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is the head coach.
“He is going about it the right way, isn’t he, particularly over the last three weeks,” Bailey said.
“The performances he is putting up are certainly eye-catching, so there is no doubt that is the best way to do it.
“He is a young guy who is really eager to learn and the feedback from those he has been around in Delhi is that he is really eager to learn and keep growing his game. He is certainly not someone who thinks he has got it all made and is the complete package. I think that is really exciting going forward.”