Jake Fraser-McGurk opens up on missing Australia's T20 World Cup squad

Emerging batter Jake Fraser-McGurk has no reservations about being left out of Australia's T20 World Cup squad and believes he wasn't even in a position to think he had earned a place in the 15-man squad.

The 22-year-old was a notable omission, alongside Steve Smith, from Australia’s squad as selectors opted for a tried and trusted group that gave them flexibility in terms of the combinations.

Fraser-McGurk has not played a T20I for Australia, having participated in just two ODIs, but has illuminated the ongoing IPL with two 15-ball half-centuries, including scoring 84 off 27 balls against Mumbai Indians.

But Fraser-McGurk told the Willow Talk podcast that he wasn’t bothered by non-selection in the squad for the tournament in the West Indies and USA and said his conversations with the selectors had been clear.

“The communication was really good,” Fraser-McGurk said. “There are two ways you can look at it. You can look at it through, ’this is what I’ve done to prove my case,’ and then there’s also, ’look, a month and a half ago I wasn’t even in the picture.'

“They probably had a good idea of what [the squad] was a month and a half ago, trying to build that and get the connection in the team. And it’s also hard to fit in. You’ve got David Warner, our best opener ever in three formats. You’ve got Travis Head, who is lighting it up over here and has lit it up over the past 18 months.

“And then Mitch Marsh is the same and he’s also the captain.

“I can’t really see myself batting five or six because we’re pretty set there with Tim David, Cam Green and those sort of blokes. That’s the way I think about it. That’s fine," he added.

Meanwhile, Fraser-McGurk acknowledges the invaluable advice and tips from Delhi Capitals coach and fellow Aussie Ricky Ponting.

“What he said to me that’s really stuck with me is ‘you hit the ball a lot further when you swing at 80% instead of 100%, you just have to find the middle and then it’ll go for six,’” Fraser-McGurk said.

“And I was like, okay, well, that’s good, because when I swing harder my head moves. And I did look at the footage throughout all the recent games I’ve been playing apart from the IPL, and he’s right, when I do swing quite hard my head’s moving as I’m trying to hit the ball," he added.