11-six innings in California a one-off return to form for Jake Fraser-McGurk who is battling to be the man Australian cricket hoped
After a horror IPL, which came on the back of a run of single figure scores in a surprise return for Australia after a poor Big Bash, Fraser-McGurk blasted 11 sixes in a single MLC innings to serve a reminder of what he's capable of.
It's been carnage for bowlers in Oakland, and Fraser-McGurk joined in the fun.
But it proved a fleeting performance, and just two days later he was out for single figures again, for the 10th time in 12 T20 innings around the globe, as boom again turned to bust for a batter who had been a great white-ball hope.
Hang these shots in the Louvre 🖼
Jake was doing damage today at The Coliseum � #GoCorns pic.twitter.com/i7gQtPzbED
— San Francisco Unicorns (@SFOUnicorns) June 15, 2025
Fraser-McGurk, 23, and already with 14 internationals for Australia under his belt, started his tenure with the San Francisco Unicorns like he ended his time with the Delhi Capitals.
Six innings in the IPL in India, where he was earning $1.6m after a blockbuster 2024 season where he kept David Warner out of the side, yielded just 55 runs, and 38 of those came in one innings.
That score of 38 came after he made 11 in two ODIs for Australia in Sri Lanka, and was followed by another four more IPL single-figure scores before Fraser-McGurk lost his spot.
Moving to the US, where games are being played at the Oakland baseball stadium, where Kiwi Fin Allen has blasted 25 sixes in just three innings, Fraser-McGurk opened with a nine-ball innings of just six runs.
The all-or-nothing approach he's taken to T20 batting came off enough times in the past for even the likes of Glenn Maxwell to declare Fraser-McGurk had 'so much talent' that he could become a weapon for Australia.
But there were more misses than hits until finally Fraser-McGurk was able to launch into a bowling attack that included Andre Russell and fellow Aussie Tanveer Sangha.
Fraser-McGurk went on a rampage, swatting 11 sixes and two fours in a 38-ball innings of 88 that propelled the Unicorns to a victory.
'It's been a while since I have got runs in this format, it's about contributing to the side and I'm happy,' he said after finally netting some runs, thanking coach Shane Watson, a man who has also mentored another teen tyro, Sam Konstas.
'They have been working hard, I'm lucky the ground is not that big, conditions suit batters.'
The boom, however, lasted less than 48 hours, and on Monday Fraser-McGurk was out for one, Kiwi veteran Trent Boult securing another early dismissal.
Take the 88 and 38 out of Fraser-McGurk's last 10 innings at the top level, and he has 35 runs, with two ducks.
He only averaged 18 in the BBL last summer, boosted by a late innings of 95, and the jury remains out on whether he'll be the player so many hoped he would.
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