Melbourne Renegades young gun Jake Fraser-McGurk, entering his fifth season of Big Bash League cricket, still lies in bed watching highlights of Michael Clarke’s triple century against India.
Fraser-McGurk was a nine-year-old when the former Australian captain peeled off a record-breaking 329 not out during the 2012 New Year’s Test at the SCG, a knock the Victorian continues re-watching more than a decade later. Like so many young Australian cricket fans, he would spend hours in the nets trying to replicate Clarke’s straight drive, his backward cut, his flick through mid-wicket.
“I watched it the other day as well, just on my phone before I go to bed,” Fraser-McGurk told Fox Cricket this week.
“That’s amazing, that was just unbelievable stuff.
“Kids these days, they’ve grown up watching a lot of T20 cricket. But when I was a kid, I was watching Test cricket for hours in the day.
“Then after that, I’d go to the nets with my dad for like three hours until it’s dark.”
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Seven years later, Fraser-McGurk represented Australia at the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, but his campaign was cut short when a monkey scratched his face at a nature reserve, returning home for precautionary medical treatment.
The bizarre injury made global headlines, but the talented right-hander didn’t become a household name until earlier this summer when he peeled off a maiden List A century in extraordinary circumstances. He only needed 29 deliveries to reach triple figures against Tasmania at Adelaide’s Karen Rolton Oval in October, breaking the all-time record for fastest white-ball century in professional cricket.
Fraser-McGurk’s 125 (38), which featured five singles and 13 sixes, established himself as one of Australian cricket’s brightest prospects, with plenty of buzz surrounding the 21-year-old in the months since.
“My phone was blowing up,” he said.
“I turned it off at some stage just because it was on a constant vibration.”
Fraser-McGurk, who moved from Victoria to South Australia earlier this year, also notched a maiden first-class century against his former state at Adelaide Oval in late November, more than four years after making his Sheffield Shield debut.
The Redbacks were in dire straits at 4-16 when he walked to the crease in the first innings, but that didn’t prevent him from playing his shots. In a swashbuckling counterattack, he raced towards his hundred in just 103 deliveries, steering South Australia towards a respectable first-innings total of 252.
“To get that monkey off my back, to finally get that hundred, especially against my old side, was pretty special,” Fraser-McGurk continued.
“I think that was more satisfying than the one-day hundred, just because red-ball cricket’s more mentally tough.
“I can’t remember the last time I faced more than 100 balls in a game.”
The performance mirrored what Redbacks teammate Travis Head has achieved in the Test arena over the past 24 months, with Fraser-McGurk confessing he has drawn inspiration from the left-hander’s attacking approach to batting.
“He just backs his own style of play and has 100 per cent commitment to everything he does and every shot he plays,” Fraser-McGurk said.
“Taking that out of his batting style and trying to implement it into mine, and just trusting my processes has really helped me this season.
“Looking at Travis, maybe that’s someone that I can aspire to bat like, and it’s pretty good I’m in his state now.
“It’s pretty much his state now, isn’t it? He’s probably got the keys to the city. He is the king of Adelaide.”
Fraser-McGurk also credits his recent success to a simple change in mindset, which has been partly influenced by Indian superstar Virat Kohli – watch the ball.
“The last few seasons, I’ve felt like, it sounds weird, but I haven’t been actually watching the ball as hard as I can,” Fraser-McGurk explained.
“You see players like Virat, whose eyes are really wide when he’s facing up. He’s watching it like a hawk, so I thought I could get something out of that and try to look for the seam on the ball, and then just reacting and backing my instincts.”
Renegades fans will be desperate for Fraser-McGurk’s golden run of form to continue in the BBL, which gets underway on Thursday evening. He’s understandably eager to bat in the top three, which would allow him to take advantage of fielding restrictions during the Powerplay, but he’ll be up against the likes of former Australian captain Aaron Finch, veteran opener Shaun Marsh and South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
“Somewhere in the top, that be nice with two out, or just send me in when the Power Surge is on, get me off to a nice start,” Fraser-McGurk laughed.
“Honestly, I’m happy with wherever I can get a spot and I’ll play a role for the team as best as I can. We’ve got such a strong team, mixed with experience and youth, so I’m hoping we go really far into this tournament, go a few steps further than we did last year.”
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Indian Premier League franchise owners will be keeping tabs on Fraser-McGurk’s performances over the next couple of weeks; an eye-catching Big Bash cameo could be enough for him to get snapped up at this month’s IPL Draft. However, pursuing a baggy green remains the “number one” long-term goal for the rising star, who hopes to one day emulate Clarke’s heroics in the Australian Test side.
“I grew up watching more Test cricket than anything. So that’s the goal, and that’s the ambition,” Fraser-McGurk declared.
“If it if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But yeah, that’s definitely the dream.”
The Renegades get their BBL campaign underway on Friday evening, facing the Sydney Sixers at the SCG from 7.15pm AEDT.
“We’ve known for a long time he’s a hell of a talent,” Sixers bowler Sean Abbott said of Fraser-McGurk this week.
“He’s obviously had some success this year, but we’ve got a pretty good bowling line-up. It’ll be interesting to see how he approaches that on Friday in conditions that we know pretty well.
“He’s certainly a player that I’ll be keeping an eye on. He’s immensely talented.”
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