David Warner has urged protégé Jake Fraser-McGurk to find a second gear with his batting as the young star vies to crack the elusive code of 50-over cricket.
Fraser-McGurk has only started in two ODIs since being anointed Warner’s successor at the top of the Australian order, but he is set to get a big swing at nailing down a spot ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy.
With Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head on paternity leave, Fraser-McGurk is poised to partner with Matt Short against Pakistan in a three-game ODI home series against Pakistan which opens with a Melbourne Cup-eve blockbuster at the MCG on Monday.
Fraser-McGurk is set for a mega payday at the IPL auction after his franchise Delhi declined to retain him — a good result for the six-hitting bulldozer who was signed on a $92,000 replacement player contract.
Warner has become a close friend and confidant for the ‘Rooster’, who he affectionately nicknames ‘Baby Bull’, and said the 22-year-old must adapt his game to conquer the swinging new ball which is not so much a factor in the T20 format where Fraser-McGurk has made his name.
“He’s a good kid. Very good kid. He hits the ball unbelievably hard and I think he knows what he needs to work on to have that longevity in the 50-over format and red ball format,” Warner told this masthead ahead of his commentary debut for Fox Cricket on Monday.
“He knows how to play the Twenty20 game – he just goes one way about it and he’s got one temp.
“I think in the 50-over game he’ll learn on the run. That comes with volume of games and identifying certain dismissals and certain times of the game where you can go hard and when you’ve got to pull it back.
“I don’t see him holding back in the first 10 when the field has two up, but then again there’s two brand new balls and in his instance he has to somehow work hard on if the ball is swinging, work hard on getting into the right positions to defend that good ball.
“Because you just can’t hit a swinging ball all the time. They’re the things he’ll have to be careful of.”
Fraser-McGurk made his maiden T20 international half century against England in September and appears fairly locked in to be the opener who leads Australia towards the next short format World Cup.
However, the most immediate international trophy coming up is the Champions Trophy – slated to take place in Pakistan early next year.
This shapes as a massive summer for the swashbuckling right-hander to establish himself not only in Australia’s ODI plans, but also in South Australia’s Sheffield Shield middle order, as he tries to lay the foundations for a future Test career.
It is clear that Warner has become a key mentor for Fraser-McGurk in his dream to follow his idol as an all-format superstar.
“He’s going to be a good mate of mine for a long time. Nothing surer. He will always be there … he said that. So whenever I need anything, whenever he needs me, which I doubt he will, but if he does – then I’ll be first to pick up the phone,” Fraser-McGurk said.
“I talk to him a lot at the moment. There’s a lot of things that he’s told me. He has shared his old experiences which I can use, and hopefully, learn quicker, which could help me a bit earlier.
“No matter what it is, he’s always there to help me. Nothing really technical, just more life experiences off the field as well, in terms of media pressures and all that stuff.
“He listens to everything. He watches everything. He’s always going to have an eye on everything.”
Fraser-McGurk’s coach at Delhi Ricky Ponting has also become a key mentor for him, as has teammate at the Capitals, Indian superstar, Rishabh Pant.
Warner, Pant and Fraser-McGurk will all be seeking new homes in the IPL in 2025 after Delhi chose not to retain them ahead of the auction – while Ponting has also moved on.