Find out a bit more about the young batter who has taken over from AB de Villiers

Andrew McGlashan08-Oct-2023Half-centuries as a 17-year-oldFraser-McGurk made an instant impression on his first-class and one-day debuts for Victoria in 2019 when, aged 17, he hit half-centuries in both the Sheffield Shield and One-day Cup in the space of six days. However, they would remain his only half-centuries until this remarkable century against Tasmania.A difficult Under-19 World CupHe was part of Australia’s squad for the 2020 edition of the U-19 World Cup in South Africa, but he was forced home early after being scratched in the face by a monkey at a nature reserve. “I guess it serves me right for getting too close to the animal enclosure. That’s a lesson learned,” he said.A player to watchIn mid-2020, he was included in ESPNcricinfo’s 20 players to watch for the 2020s. His then Victoria coach Chris Rogers said: “You look at him and you think, ‘Well, you’ve got everything you need, it’s just whether you make good decisions down the track.’ Sometimes he’ll leave a few runs out in the middle, and as a coach you can get a little bit frustrated, but then he’ll just do something magical and play an innings that is exceptional. When he has his good days, they’re just incredible.”A struggle for consistencyAs Fraser-McGurk’s overall numbers would suggest, the early stages of his professional career haven’t been easy. Neither has he amassed huge runs at grade level, although did make for 2nd XI hundreds for Victoria. Two seasons after that half-century on debut, he helped guide Victoria to victory in a low-scoring Shield match at the SCG. But he would only make two Shield appearances in the 2021-22 season and none last summer. In the one-day game he would occasionally show flashes of his talent but, again, lost his place in the format before moving to South Australia ahead of 2023-24 campaign.In the BBL he remains part of the Melbourne Renegades squad. He will be looking to turn around a poor T20 record where he currently averages just 13.28 with a strike-rate of 103.33 after 25 matches.Didn’t he go viral during the BBL?Yes, he did. Twice. Fraser-McGurk is known as a terrific fielder and in 2021 pulled off a stunning boundary catch in the 2021-22 season when he leapt to catch Jake Weatherald’s slog sweep at Marvel Stadium. “He tried to sweep a few of them and I thought I was in the game,” he said. “Sort of reminds me of Ben Stokes in the World Cup.”

Happy 20th birthday to Jake Fraser-McGurk!

Was this the catch of the summer?pic.twitter.com/Fz3MlBdaOx

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) April 11, 2022

Then he did it again the following season with another stunning catch against Hobart Hurricanes. “I thought that was going a long way back, we have seen him do it before, he’s as athletic as anyone in the world,” Brett Lee said on commentary. “He is quickly becoming one of Australia’s great fielders, he has taken some screamers, look at how relaxed he was.”