Fraser-McGurk keen to continue his red-ball evolution

White-ball batting sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk admits he's "disappointed" to miss selection in South Australia's line-up for the opening two rounds of Sheffield Shield but believes he has the game to succeed in the red-ball format.

Fraser-McGurk, who was this week named in Australia's ODI squad for next month's three-match series against Pakistan and is expected to be part of the subsequent T20I campaign against the same opponents, won't have a chance to press his Shield claims until round five in early December.

Having been part of Australia's touring party for last month's white-ball in campaign in the UK, the exciting 22-year-old missed SA's pre-season games and was starved of opportunities to build up his first-class training loads.

He was overlooked in favour of fellow middle-order aspirant Daniel Drew – who scored 130 and 24no in SA's opening Toyota Second XI fixture against Queensland last month – in last week's Shield game against NSW when Test batter Travis Head was also available.

Head will miss SA's next Shield game against Queensland starting in Brisbane on Sunday due to paternity leave, but his place is expected to be filled by veteran Jake Lehmann who posted 173 in last week's Second XI game against a Western Australia attack led by Jhye Richardson.

Fraser-McGurk also played in that WA game scoring 28 (off 13 balls faced) and 30 (off 22) but concedes his lack of familiarity with first-class cricket after a winter spent playing limited-overs formats meant it took a toll.

"It's definitely a long four days," he told reporters in Adelaide today.

"I felt like I was out there for a week, but hopefully that continues to get a bit better and I get my crack with the big boys (Shield squad).

"Pretty disappointed with the first two selections, but that's the way cricket is.

"It's one of those ones where you've got to knock the door down in that format, but I definitely think I can do that.

"You've also got to give props to the guys that banged that door down in the previous (Second XI) games.

"They're making big hundreds so they're well and truly deserving their spot.

"I'll be sure to try and knock the door down come next selection."

Newly appointed SA coach Ryan Harris had flagged before the season started that finding the best fit for Fraser-McGurk in the Shield set-up might be tough, especially early in the season when Head and Test teammate Alex Carey were available.

Harris conceded last summer's experiment with the blazing right-hander as a red-ball opener wasn't the right call, and noted Fraser-McGurk's optimum spot in the long-form game was at number six.

"We want to keep trying to play him in red-ball cricket but if everyone's scoring runs and performing well then it's a bit of a squeeze," Harris told cricket.com.au prior to the season starting.

As a result, Fraser-McGurk's chance to re-acquaint himself with red-ball cricket might come with club side West Torrens at Premier Cricket level which kicks off in Adelaide this weekend, before he joins up with the ODI outfit early next month.

"One of my priorities is trying to crack into that Shield team and really cement my spot in that middle-order," he said today.

"For me it's just sort of a tempo difference, not really a technique difference.

"It's spending some time out there in the middle and I was lucky enough to get that chance last week in the Second XI.

"A lot of my time goes into developing my red-ball game."

After an indifferent UK tour – he admits to struggling with conditions in Scotland where he played three T20Is before finishing with a half-century in the second 20-over game against England at Cardiff – he's looking to press his claims in the 50-over format.

With Head also absent from the Pakistan ODIs due to the impending arrival of his and wife Jess's second child, Fraser-McGurk is expecting to open the batting with Matt Short, with both hoping to convince selectors they are worthy of a berth at next February's ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan.

In order to further boost his white-ball credentials, Fraser-McGurk has taken up a suggestion from national men's team coach Andrew McDonald and assistant Andre Borovec to revisit his junior cricket days as a wicketkeeper.

While playing down any suggestion he is pushing to be considered as a first-choice keeper at senior level, he understands the appeal for selectors in having a squad member who can act as fill-in gloveman should dire circumstances dictate.

Apart from brief stints behind the stumps when playing indoor cricket, Fraser-McGurk hasn't filled the keeper's role since his days of school cricket with Carey Grammar in Melbourne.

So when McDonald and Borovec approached him during this year's ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and put to him their idea he re-acquaint himself with the skills set he initially thought it was a prank.

"It was a bit of a shock to the system at the start of the World Cup when they were like 'maybe you should get the gloves on', and I sort of laughed," he said today.

"And they were like 'no, we're being serious'.

"So I've been keeping up to date with it so far.

"It's actually something I really enjoy doing.

"I'm not sure how I'd go in a game yet, and hopefully that never has to come and our keepers can stay fit.

"(But) it just helps with selection.

"If I can be good enough and something does happen to Josh (Inglis) and Alex (Carey), I can be there and do a good enough job to get the team over the line or take some sort of catch or just have some impact."