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Smith's brilliance can't hide Aaron Finch's lacklustre form

4th December, 2016
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Aaron Finch could make the Test team yet. (AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES)
Expert
4th December, 2016
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While Steve Smith continued his breathtaking rise as an ODI batsman yesterday, Aaron Finch’s form trough deepened.

Smith’s majestic 164 led Australia to a comfortable win over New Zealand in the opening fixture of the three-match series.

Almost as notable was another failure by Finch, who must be under fierce pressure from Usman Khawaja to hold his place in the Australian XI.

As 2015 drew to a close, Finch was averaging just under 40 in ODIs and had become one of the team’s most reliable players. Together with David Warner he had built an elite opening partnership. After starting his career as a stand-and-deliver hitter, Finch had blossomed into a more versatile, nuanced batsman.

Rather than relying on bludgeoned boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving, the Victorian became content to work the gaps while waiting for deliveries in his hitting zones. Like most of the great ODI batsmen, Finch valued his wicket early on, built a platform and then looked to impose himself on the bowlers.

Australian batsman Aaron Finch celebrates after scoring a century, during the One Day International cricket match against South Africa in Harare Zimbabwe Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014. The two teams are competing in a triangular ODI series with Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Such an approach tends to give batsman a greater chance of consistency. In 2016 Finch has lost his consistency, returning to the hit-or-miss cricketer he was early in his career. It’s coincided with greater impatience in his batting. Just as he did in his first dozen or so ODIs, Finch has been attempting to clatter the bowlers from the first over.

Finch has regularly refused to respect good deliveries, like the off cutter he received yesterday from Matt Henry. The talented Kiwi seamer landed the ball on a perfect length just outside off stump. It was a delivery which required a defensive stroke, particularly given it was the first ball Finch faced.

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Instead he attempted an ambitious on-the-up drive and chopped the ball on to his stumps. It was the kind of stroke Finch plays with authority once he is well set. Not the sort of shot to be unfurled first ball. Finch has continually gifted his wicket in such a manner this year, trying to manufacture boundaries off good balls in the opening overs.

As a result, he has averaged just 30 with the bat from his 23 matches this year. With the Champions Trophy only six months away, Australia will soon need to bed down their batting order and allow it to gel ahead of that tournament.

Finch’s two chief competitors for the opening spot are well known to the Australian selectors.

Khawaja has been Australia’s best Test batsman this summer and has an imperious List A 50-over record, with just under 3000 runs at 45. Shaun Marsh, meanwhile, has long been a dominant 50-over batsman and owns a fine ODI record of 1858 runs at 39. Either batsman would be a good foil for the dynamic Warner.

Finch’s form is all the more stark because of the commanding performances of the batsmen around him. Warner is the number three ranked ODI batsman in the world, having smashed 1765 runs at 55 (strike rate of 106) since the start of last year, including seven tons from 35 matches.

Smith’s record is equally impressive. Since November 2014, the Australian skipper has plundered 2131 runs at 56, including six tons from 46 matches. Yesterday’s hundred was among his finest.

With Australia losing early wickets and eventually reduced to 4-92, Smith placed a high price on his wicket and shelved his most daring strokes.

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He plodded to 60 from 87 balls before accelerating, his next 104 runs coming from just 70 deliveries. It was a perfectly-constructed ODI innings in the circumstances. Finch should have been watching closely.

When he executed a similarly mature strategy his batting improved significantly. Once Finch returned to being a biff merchant his career hit the skids. Smith set the example, now it’s up to Finch to follow.

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