David Warner, the veteran Australian opener, has passed the torch to 22-year-old Jake Fraser-McGurk, expressing confidence in his ability to fill Warner's shoes in both white-ball formats and potentially even the Test team.
Warner has taken Fraser-McGurk under his wing, mentoring him during their time together at the Delhi Capitals in the IPL and at the recent T20 World Cup, where Fraser-McGurk served as a traveling reserve. With Warner's international career coming to an end, a new era is dawning at the top of the order for Australia in limited-overs cricket.
"All yours now champion," Warner captioned an Instagram post of himself and Fraser-McGurk sharing a drink.
Speaking to reporters after Australia's exit from the T20 World Cup, Warner endorsed Fraser-McGurk's credentials as an opener in T20s and ODIs.
"Every time I put something out there I become a selector [but] I think he's definitely got the ability to definitely do that," Warner said. "He can lock it in. And a bit like myself, you [have to learn] how to play…50-over cricket. That's one thing that I learnt from Twenty20. I got dropped after seven games because I didn't really understand how to play the game of one-day cricket."
Fraser-McGurk, who has played two ODIs for Australia and scored a world-record 29-ball one-day century in the Marsh Cup earlier this season, is likely to be included in Australia's upcoming tours of Scotland and England.
However, Fraser-McGurk has downplayed the prospect of following Warner as a red-ball opener, having found an experiment at the top of the order for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield unsuited to his style.
Warner acknowledged the competing demands that Fraser-McGurk will face from the franchise scene but expressed encouragement at his desire to pursue first-class cricket.
"Will he play Test cricket? I think he'll have to have a breakout year in the next 12-18 months to prove himself," Warner said. "I think we've all had to score hundreds to get your name up there [to] warrant that."
"Hopefully when it comes to Shield cricket this year, he sticks at that. There's going to be a lot of money thrown around to him for these Twenty20 leagues and it's upon him and his management to keep him focused and aligned with what he wants to do. But I hope he does - I know he's thinking like that. He wants to play red-ball cricket."
Tags: #DavidWarner, #JakeFraserMcGurk, #AustralianCricket, #T20WorldCup, #WhiteBallCricket
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