31-year-old Aaron Finch yet to give up on Test dream
At first glance, few players fit the tag of ‘white-ball specialist’ better than Australia’s Aaron Finch. His uncomplicated and powerful method seems more suited to scoring quickly than surviving for long periods; he averages more with the bat in List A than in first-class cricket and almost as much in Twenty20s; and he has received more opportunities in limited-overs cricket than in multi-day cricket, having played 210 T20s in his career, compared with just 74 first-class games.
But with several places in Australia’s Test batting line-up seemingly up for grabs, the Victorian opener is determined to set the record straight and demonstrate why he is a contender for a Test spot.
“Over the last four years, I have played really well in four-day cricket in Australia and in England, averaging about 50,” Finch told Wisden.com. “That is something that’s really pleasing.
“In the Test team, there are a lot of very good players for Australia and a lot of guys who have been scoring runs in the last domestic season. If a spot comes up, it comes up. All I can do is keep trying to score runs.”
Spots have come up because of the bans handed out to David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft for their parts in attempting to illegally tamper with the ball during Australia’s recent series against South Africa. Despite the positive implications for his own career, Finch expressed sympathy for the plight of the three men.
“That was obviously disappointing for the guys,” he said. “They stood up and took responsibility for it, which is a big step.
“The punishment is them being out for 12 months, but I am very hopeful that Davey (Warner) and Smith can come back to international cricket and be welcomed back by the Australian public and world cricket fans. Cameron Bancroft (as well), after nine months, can hopefully also come back and perform well for Australia.”
As is the modern way however, for the moment any red-ball claims Finch wants to stake will have to be done playing T20 cricket in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab. But what the right-hander is focussed on is doing whatever his team needs him to do to be successful.
“I asked the captain (R Ashwin) and we are still trying to work out a team and work out the best balance for the team,” said Finch. “Wherever I bat, I am happy with that. You do the job that you can. Anything that the coach or the captain asks you to do, you go out and do it.
“If that is at the top of the order, where I have batted most of my career, I am happy to do that. But, like the last tri-series for Australia (against England and New Zealand) and the last one-and-a-half IPLs, I’ve been batting at No.4 and No.5. It has been great fun as well.”