Asia

Jake Fraser-McGurk: From almost quitting cricket to switching states and now playing whirlwind knocks for Delhi Capitals in IPL

April 28, 2024

Whenever Jake Fraser-McGurk walks out to bat in the nets at Arun Jaitley Stadium, a couple of Delhi Capitals staff would clear the groundstaff in front of the sightscreen and cow corner so that no one gets hurt. It’s no surprise as the 22-year-old Aussie, who came as a replacement player for Lungi Ngidi, has taken the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm with his power-hitting.

Jake explained his gameplan at the mid-innings break after his 27-ball 84 against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. “My role is to go out there and score as many as possible in the first six. If I go on, I go on. If I get ones and twos, it’s either because I’ve mishit it or maybe it’s the last ball of the over,” he told the broadcasters.

What catches the eye is that the power he generates comes without any footwork. For Jake, it is just ‘stand and deliver’. On Saturday in Delhi, not even Jasprit Bumrah, the one bowler who has held his own through IPL 2024, was spared. In his five outings for the Capitals, the Aussie has amassed 257 runs at a strike rate of 237.50.

Jake

Jake Fraser-McGurk with his childhood coach Shanon Young at SCG.

“I feel like the hard-hitting ability is something I’ve always had. It’s about developing a nice base, being as still as possible and swinging big. There’s a lot of timing involved, it’s about having a nice, strong core and upper body,” he explained.

Not too long ago, the youngster almost quit cricket to pursue golf, another sport he is very good at. Jake’s childhood coach Shanon Young attributed his ward’s high backlift to his love for golf.

Festive offer

“He is a very good golfer. At one stage, he wanted to take up golf as a professional. Believe it or not, even I once told him to switch to golf,” Shanon told The Indian Express from Victoria.

“I first started working with him when he was 12 years old. I reckon his high backlift developed when he was 15 or 16. He started to put his hands up because he almost had too much power, and too much impact in terms of getting that bat back. It was just natural. What helped him is that his head stays still. He picks up line and length quicker than anyone I have ever seen. He has done things from a young age that I have never seen anyone doing with such ease,” he said.

Not a finished product

Earlier this week, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting was a bit critical about Jake’s ultra-aggressive approach.

“Jake played an incredibly good innings against Sunrisers (he scored an 18-ball 65). It’s one thing to be out there and attack, but you still have to have some game sense and game awareness around you. It’s not all just crash and bang,” Ponting had said during a select media meet.

However, the former Australia captain was also lavish in his praise for the youngster and firmly believes that he could be a three-format player if gets to spend more time with him.

“He’s a serious talent, and so far he’s not anywhere near the finished product yet. I told him right at the start of this tournament that I would love to be able to spend more time with him one-on-one and work with him on his batting. It’s not just his ball-striking, but also how he thinks about the game and how he goes about the game. We’ve already made some pretty significant technical changes with him since he’s been here and I think it has worked wonders for him,” Ponting said.

The Tall Poppy Syndrome

Shanon recalls how Jake had been written off at a very young age, but his self-belief and the hunger to prove everyone wrong kept him going.

“He is a very quick learner and a very coachable guy as well. The way he plays his cricket, he draws a lot of criticism in Australia. Unfortunately, in Australia, the term coined for him is ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’. It means the more successful one gets, the more people try to pull them down. The way he plays is a lot similar to Glenn Maxwell and Maxwell has been criticised his whole life. The way Jake plays, a lot of people think he’s reckless, he doesn’t have a lot of respect for the game. It’s actually the opposite,” the coach said.

“He is the ultimate team guy and has got a really good understanding of his own game. The way he plays, it’s all about freedom but that requires a lot of courage as well. There are a lot of comments – like he doesn’t hit the ball through the offside, he can’t rotate the strike, he can only bat in the Powerplay, he spends too much time on social media. I just laugh at them. This kid is just 22, give him the chance to grow and stop waiting for him to fail.”

Jake Jake Fraser-McGurk with his childhood coach Shanon Young and his family members at the SCG on his Australia debut.

Being at the IPL will speed up Jake’s development, his coach feels.

“When he told me that he was going to the IPL, I told him that whether he gets a game or not, he will be surrounded by the world’s best players. ‘They will be talking about cricket a lot, you are lucky. You will get to ask questions.’ Now he is getting to learn from the likes of Ponting, Sourav Ganguly and Praveen Amre,” says Shanon.

Shanon was at the Sydney Cricket Ground when Jake made his T20I debut against West Indies and got out after facing just five balls.

“The media stuff afterwards was crazy. He scored 41 off 18 balls in the next match. The bloke has played only 23 balls in international cricket. Just give him a break. In Australia, we generally wait till 25 or 26 to hand someone a debut. That’s one of the reasons as well,” he says.

Will he succeed in the longer formats?

Both Ponting and Shanon firmly believe that Jake, who averages only 18 in First-Class cricket, can be an excellent long-format player as well.

“There’s been a huge turnaround in Jake’s career since he moved from Victoria to South Australia to play First-Class cricket. The best players in the world have always been the best problem-solvers, and Jake has got all those traits,” Ponting said.

Shanon, who has worked with him for over a decade now, explains the reason why Jake switched states.

“Victoria wanted him to change his batting style. His Sheffield Shields numbers are not that high but he has got the technique to succeed in four-day and five-day games. Red-ball cricket requires a different approach. He is only a young kid, he will work that out.

“Victoria offered him a rookie contract, which is a pretty big downgrade. South Australia offered him two years. I am pretty confident that he will work out four-day and five-day cricket. He has started to open the batting, which is not his natural position. But Jason Gillespie, his coach at South Australia, said they only have the opening slot available and he took the challenge,” Shannon said.