Warner holds out IPL hot shot Fraser-McGurk in Australia's T20 World Cup squad

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Hyped as the next David Warner by astute judges of his phenomenal batting talent, Jake Fraser-McGurk will have to settle for being next in line if Australia needs backup at the Twenty20 World Cup.

His extraordinary Indian Premier League form wasn't enough to supplant anyone in the preliminary 15-man Australian squad that was announced May 1, but did earn him a spot as a traveling reserve for the tournament next month.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed the squad on Tuesday — with Warner, Travis Head and skipper Mitch Marsh remaining first choice top-order batters — and added Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short as injury cover.

“There’s no doubt what he did in the IPL, he lit it up,” McDonald told Australia’s SEN radio. “He’s an extraordinary talent (and) there’s no doubt that he did turn our heads."

The 22-year-old Fraser-McGurk soared into Australia’s selection calculations with 330 runs at an almost surreal strike-rate of 234 for the Delhi Capitals. His four half-centuries included two off 15 balls as he shredded bowling attacks.

He got his IPL break because of an injury to Warner, thanks to some input from former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, but he couldn’t unseat the 37-year-old veteran for the global T20 World Cup starting June 1 in the U.S. and Caribbean.

And while McDonald conceded Fraser-McGurk was a “huge discussion” for the World Cup when he was running hot, he said the young batter didn't quite fit into the mix selectors had been working on since Australia lost the title in 2022.

Warner has been bothered by hand injury that disrupted his IPL season, but McDonald said Australian selectors have “no fears that he won’t be fit and fully available.”

It's likely to be the last World Cup for Warner, who burst onto the international scene in 2009 as a hard-hitting, rapid scorer and became one of the most enduring batters in test and limited-overs cricket.

Marsh, who is recovering from an injured hamstring, was confirmed as T20 captain last month after sharing the duties on an interim basis since the retirement last year of Aaron Finch.

Allrounder Marsh will likely bat at No. 3 and Glenn Maxwell at No. 4 in the lineup, with Tim David likely to fill the finisher role further down the order.

Matt Wade and Josh Inglis were picked as wicketkeepers and Ashton Agar returns to the squad as a second spinning option to Adam Zampa.

The regular pace bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will have support from Nathan Ellis as well as allrounders Cameron Green, Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.

Australia, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions, will open against Oman at Barbados on June 5.

The Australians are the defending champions in the ICC’s World Test Championship and in the 50-over World Cup.

Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Short.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Sunrisers Hyderabad's captain Pat Cummins gestures towards the crowd after their team won the match against Punjab Kings in Indian Premier League cricket tournament in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, May19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Delhi Capitals' Jake Fraser-McGurk reacts after getting hurt on a delivery by Rajasthan Royals' Trent Boult during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Jake Fraser-McGurk plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru, India, Sunday, May 12 , 2024. (AP Photo/Kashif Masood)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former FBI officials settled lawsuits with the Justice Department on Friday, resolving claims that their privacy rights were violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages that they had sent one another that disparaged former President Donald Trump.

Peter Strzok, a former top counterintelligence agent who played a crucial role in the investigation into Russian election interference in 2016, settled his case for $1.2 million. Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer who exchanged text messages with Strzok, also reached a separate settlement. Court records reviewed by The Associated Press show she is to be paid $800,000.

The two had sued the Justice Department over a 2017 episode in which officials shared copies with reporters of text messages that they had sent each other, including ones that described Trump as an “idiot” and a ”loathsome human” and that called the prospect of a Trump victory “terrifying.”

Strzok, who also investigated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, was fired after the text messages came to light. Page resigned. They later sued, alleging that department officials leaked the texts to promote a false narrative of anti-Trump bias within the FBI and to elevate the department's status with Trump after his relentless attacks on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department inspector general reports examining the handling of the Clinton email and Trump-Russia investigations did not find evidence that partisan bias within the FBI influenced investigative decisions.

Strzok has also sued the department over his termination, alleging that the FBI caved to “unrelenting pressure” from Trump when it fired him and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Those constitutional claims remain pending.

“This outcome is a critical step forward in addressing the government’s unfair and highly politicized treatment of Pete,” Strzok's lawyer, Aitan Goelman, said in a statement Friday announcing the settlement.

“As important as it is for him, it also vindicates the privacy interests of all government employees. We will continue to litigate Pete’s constitutional claims to ensure that, in the future, public servants are protected from adverse employment actions motivated by partisan politics,” he added.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment Friday.

“While I have been vindicated by this result, my fervent hope remains that our institutions of justice will never again play politics with the lives of their employees,” Page said in a statement.

Her attorneys said in a statement that “the evidence was overwhelming that the release of text messages to the press in December 2017 was for partisan political purposes and was against the law. ”

FILE - A sign outside the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building is seen in Washington, May 4, 2021. Two former FBI officials have settled lawsuits Friday, July 26, 2024, with the Justice Department to resolve claims that their privacy was violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages that they had sent one another that disparaged former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)