The 'fresh start' that set Fraser-McGurk for world record

At the moment Jake Fraser-McGurk walked to the wicket to launch South Australia's distantly improbable pursuit of Tasmania's 435 yesterday, he boasted a domestic one-day batting average below 30 with a solitary half-century to his name in the 50-over format.

When he returned to the Redbacks' dressing room 50 minutes later, he owned the record for the fastest century scored by any batter in professional one-day cricket and had announced himself as one of the brightest white-ball prospects in Australia's domestic ranks.

Not that the 21-year-old was previously unknown to the country's shrewdest cricket judges.

His undeniable talent was recognised when selected to represent Victoria in the Marsh One-Day Cup and Marsh Sheffield Shield competitions in 2019 aged just 17, the year before he was part of Australia's team at the under-19 World Cup in South Africa.

But in the four summers hence, Fraser-McGurk gained renown not for playing performances but a couple of curiosities, namely the monkey scratch he copped to his face that prematurely ended his junior World Cup and the one-handed outfield catch he plucked for Melbourne Renegades in BBL|12.

Last summer, he played just four 50-over games for Victoria where he batted in the lower-middle order of a star-laden line-up and was not called up for a Shield appearance, prompting his decision to seek opportunities further afield.

While some saw the brashly confident youngster as another in the lengthy line of unfulfilled junior talents, South Australia coach Jason Gillespie recognised "a high-end, talented young cricketer" and hoped their "environment can get the best out of him".

Gillespie can take kudos for insight, but it's the confidence Fraser-McGurk has retained in his capabilities as well as the faith placed in his unabashed methods that led to Sunday's jaw-dropping innings.

"I just think I've found a process that works and that I'm trusting one hundred per cent, and the coaches and the players believe in how I play," Fraser-McGurk told cricket.com.au in the wake of his 29-ball century at Karen Rolton Oval.

"They have full confidence in the way I go about it, and those little things help so much and just create good relationships with the coaches when you move to a new state.

"So having full confidence behind me is an immaculate thing to have.

"It's hard to forget about the past and the things you've been through, and just some form slumps and things like that when I was in Victoria.

"But I said to myself this is a clean slate and, while I'm not going to lose the way I play, I paid more attention to the way I go about training, the way I envisage games and my processes.

"So it's definitely a fresh start, but I haven't lost any of my intent to play."

Even though his four outings as opener in Marsh Cup appearances for Victoria had netted him just 100 runs with a highest score of 36, Gillespie pencilled in the right-hander at the top of the Redbacks' one-day order given the loss of Jake Weatherald to Tasmania.

Less clear was whether Fraser-McGurk would earn his first Shield call-up since 2021-22, but scores of 108 (off 109 balls) and 84 (off 72) in SA's opening Toyota Second XI fixture against Queensland last month saw him slotted in at number six.

His refusal to curb his stroke-making instincts was underscored in SA's Shield opener last week when, despite going to the wicket with the Redbacks in dire strife at 4-49 and then 4-55, he unfurled a series of sweetly-struck boundaries in scores of 37 (off 23 balls) and 29 (off 20).

So when SA began their seemingly hopeless chase of 436 yesterday afternoon, the scenario was tailor-made for a batter of Fraser-McGurk's self-belief and audacious shot-making.

"I've opened a fair bit in grade cricket back in Melbourne, and for Victoria I did it a few times and in the Big Bash a couple of times in Marsh Cup as well," Fraser-McGurk said.

"So it's not something that's new, but it's something I'm definitely still learning to do and how to develop my game.

"You look at the scoreboard and you're chasing 435, and you're thinking 'I'm here to set this up for my team', so I've got to do it the best I can.

"I obviously just tried to do that, and it came off quite well."

Fraser-McGurk revealed the pre-innings plan in the SA dressing room was to reach 240 by the 30th over, then look to increase the scoring rate to 10 an over off the last 20.

Instead, on the back of his extraordinary hitting they bolted from the blocks to be 0-160 at the end of the initial 10-over power play, of which Fraser-McGurk had contributed 122 from 35 balls faced with his opening partner Henry Hunt 30 off 25.

Even allowing for the schoolyard-size 53m boundary to the eastern side of Rolton Oval and the slightly-more daunting 67m fence line to the west, Fraser-McGurk's ball-striking was sublime.

One front-foot pull off Australia-capped fast bowler Billy Stanlake thudded into the roof of the towering players' pavilion before falling back into the crowd.

And the 32 he clubbed off Sam Rainbird's second over – the third of SA's innings - equalled the Marsh Cup record for runs off a single over set by another SA batter, Alex Ross off Nathan Lyon at Hurstville Oval in 2017.

But Fraser-McGurk's favourite shot of his 38-ball stay that yielded 10 boundaries and 13 sixes was the exquisite inside-out punch that cleared the rope at extra cover off Stanlake, a stroke that prompted the batter to hold his pose for a second or two as if to frame the moment for posterity.

"That one off big Billy Stanlake was definitely the favourite," said Fraser-McGurk who admitted the only previous occasion he had played an innings of such clinical perfection was in a cricket video game.

"I was pretty happy with that one, and certainly surprised myself with how well I hit it.

"I'd made a few 30s in the Shield and got a couple of nice scores in the twos (Second XI), so I felt like I'd been hitting them reasonably well  … but probably not that well."

Tasmania captain Jordan Silk, who had completed his maiden List A century earlier in the day in propelling his team to what seemed an insurmountable total, conceded he feared 435 might have been a wholly inadequate tally at the end of SA's 10-over power play.

"It's probably an innings I'll never see maybe ever again," he said at game's end, with Tasmania holding their nerve to complete a 37-run win.

It was some of the cleanest ball-striking I've seen, and sometimes you've just got to tip your cap to players who can do that.

"Whilst it was frustrating to watch, it was also amazing to watch."

Unaware he had overtaken South Africa legend AB de Villiers' 31-ball effort against West Indies in the 2015 World Cup to post the fastest List A century, and in the process obliterated Luke Ronchi's 56-ball benchmark as the previous best in the domestic one-day competition, Fraser-McGurk kept his foot to the floor.

With Hunt encouraging his opening partner to "keep going, keep doing you", Fraser McGurk stirred memories of former SA skipper David Hookes's famous 35-ball Shield century against Victoria at nearby Adelaide Oval.

But having been granted a life on 65 (off 20 balls) when Tasmania allrounder Brad Hope dropped a scorching head-high return offering that was more self-preservation than catching attempt, Fraser-McGurk holed out to deep mid-wicket with SA 1-172 in the 12th over.

While acknowledging he was never going to throttle back despite the cessation of power-play fielding restrictions that ensured more catchers on the boundary rope, Fraser-McGurk was left to ponder if yesterday's result might have been different had he batted for a further five or 10 overs.

"If I stayed in a bit longer, I don’t know how the game would have played out but I definitely felt like I left a few out there," he said.

"I know it sounds weird, but if I hit the ball that I got out to an inch higher on the bat, it's probably six.

"I properly toed it, so who knows if that one went for six and I hit a few more sixes and fours maybe the game's a different result.

"We lost the game in the end, which was disappointing, but we can take some positives out of it and hopefully move on to next week."