Follow UsOn February 14 (Friday) in Colombo, Australia slipped to their heaviest ODI defeat in Asia and a 0-2 whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka, and one individual that’s come under real scrutiny is Jake Fraser-McGurk.
The top-order batter shot into the limelight last year after a sensational 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) but he’s struggled to buy a run across formats and conditions since then.
The right-hander now averages 14.00 after 7 ODIs and ended the Sri Lanka tour with scores of 9 & 2. What’s put Fraser-McGurk even more under pressure is his mode of dismissals, with a vast majority of the youngster’s dismissals, including the one in the second ODI, being miscued slogs and aerial hits.
But despite there being plenty of outside noise, Steve Smith backed the 22-year-old and insisted that the surfaces in the Champions Trophy will play to his strengths.
“He’s got all the shots around the ground. I think it’s just picking them to play at the right time,” Smith said of Fraser-McGurk, reported Fox Cricket.
“He hasn’t quite got going here (in Sri Lanka), but he played a couple of nice shots out there. We know the talent that he possesses, so that’s why he’s in this squad. He’s dangerous. The wickets in Pakistan potentially suit him.”
Smith backed Fraser-McGurk to emerge as a better player on the back of these experiences and insisted that the youngster will ‘learn a lot’ by just spending time with the senior players.
“He’s going to learn a lot just being around the group, continuing to work with all of us and the coaches, just talking about the game. He’ll definitely take a lot out of that,” Smith said.
Australia were out-spun across the two ODIs in Colombo but Smith acknowledged that the surfaces at the Champions Trophy, particularly in Pakistan, will be vastly different.
“I’ve actually never played one-day cricket in Pakistan myself,” Smith said.
“From what I’m hearing, they’re usually reasonably good batting wickets. The ball skids on probably a little bit more.
“We’ve been watching a few of the games that have been going on there at the moment, and they’ve been quite high-scoring games, so it’s potentially better for batting.
“But you’ve got to rock up and assess it and play to the conditions on the day.”
Australia will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against England on February 22 in Lahore.
February 22, 2:30 PM IST
Match 4: Australia vs England (Lahore)
February 25, 2:30 PM IST
Match 7: Australia vs South Africa (Rawalpindi)
February 28, 2:30 PM IST
Match 10: Australia vs Afghanistan (Lahore)
Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa. Traveling reserve: Cooper Connolly.