The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Finch can use T20 captaincy as Test springboard

Aaron Finch should not play opener in Tests. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Expert
5th October, 2014
29

Aaron Finch made his international captaincy debut last night as Australia began their UAE tour with a T20 match against Pakistan. Can Finch use his new lofty status to push for a Test spot?

Finch has taken over the captaincy from George Bailey, who stepped down from T20 to better prepare for the upcoming ODI World Cup and to try to regain his Test spot by playing more first-class cricket.

Bailey has shown Finch that there is a pathway into the Test side via limited overs cricket. The Tasmanian batsman’s prolific run making for Australia in ODIs saw him earn a Test debut in last summer’s Ashes, despite a modest first-class record.

Finch has declared himself ready for Test cricket and former champion Australian paceman, and Roar colleague, Jason Gillespie agrees with him.

Gillespie coached Finch at Yorkshire this past English summer during which the Victorian scored 291 runs at 48 from five matches, including 110 from 146 balls against Warwickshire in June. Finch batted at six for Yorkshire although Gillespie said he believed he could also open the batting in Tests.

“I’m convinced he could play a role for Australia in the Test side in that middle order, if not opening,” Gillespie told cricket.com.au recently.

“A good counter-attacking batsman who puts pressure back on the bowlers, I think they’re like absolute gold. He’s certainly someone the Australian selectors should look at.

“Forget his first-class record – put that out of your mind.”

Advertisement

When someone of the calibre of Gillespie makes a statement such as this you take notice. But it is difficult to do as he instructed, and overlook Finch’s first-class record of 2187 runs at an average of 29.

I wrote a piece for The Roar last year, declaring that Finch was a long way from a Test player. My opinion hasn’t changed. Regardless, there is no doubt Finch is closer to cracking the Test XI now than he was then.

We have seen time and again that being under the nose of the national selectors is all important. Players who turn in scintillating efforts for Australia in coloured clothing can sneak their way into the Test team ahead of cricketers with better first-class records.

Finch has swiftly become Australia’s premier T20 batsman, with an average of 41 across his 18 matches catapulting him to number two on the world T20 rankings.

Meanwhile, after a stuttering start to his ODI career he has blossomed to the point he is now a lock at the top of the order, relegating Shane Watson to first drop. His past 21 ODIs have brought him 917 runs at 46, including four centuries.

Finch has not just churned out runs for Australia in both ODIs and T20 but he has also shown admirable development in the longer of those formats.

He began his ODI career as a one-dimensional batsman – a see ball, hit ball bludgeoner who heaved his blade at deliveries from the first over. This approach bore some fruit. But such an all-out-attack strategy is hard to sustain, particularly on slower decks or against elite bowlers.

Advertisement

Duly, Finch has adapted. During Australia’s disappointing triangular tournament against South Africa and Zimbabwe in August and September, Finch was one of the few touring batsmen to adjust successfully to the slow pitches.

He shelved his more expansive strokes early in the innings, before unfurling them once well set. This mature and circumspect style was rewarded with 250 runs at 50, the second highest return for the series after South Africa’s Faf du Plessis.

Finch has made the opening position his own in limited overs cricket. He has also been given generous opportunities to bat there for both Victoria and Australia A in first-class cricket.

The results, however, have been dire. Over the past three Sheffield Shield seasons, Finch has scratched together 448 runs at an average of 15 from 16 matches.

In spite of such horrendous statistics, he was offered the chance to open for Australia A against South Africa and Zimbabwe in Africa last year.

Not surprisingly, he laboured in those three first-class matches, averaging 26 from six innings. Set against this backdrop it would seem unfathomable that Finch could press for Test selection in the near future.

Yet if his blistering limited overs form intersects with a flurry of runs in the Sheffield Shield this summer, then he may do just that.

Advertisement
close