How long does Australian cricket persist with an out-of-form Aaron Finch? Ben Horne looks at the tricky situation and why Finch has the perfect chance to prove the doubters wrong.
Michael Clarke and some ex-teammates might not necessarily swap Christmas cards, but those players will still tell you Australia would not have won the 2015 World Cup without his razor sharp captaincy.
Clarke was physically hanging on by a thread having rushed back from ripping his hamstring off the bone, but his cool head under the extreme, unrivalled pressure of trying to win a Cup on home soil was critical, even if he was only Australia’s fifth highest run-scorer for the tournament.
It’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s an example from history which explains why Australian selectors and players are 100 per cent behind Aaron Finch and the importance of his leadership for next month’s home Twenty20 World Cup – despite his middling form with the bat.
Finch’s record suggests he is one of Australian cricket’s most underrated winners.
In that same 2015 World Cup under Clarke, pressure built on Finch during the tournament until he produced a clutch 81 when his team needed it most in the knockout semi-final against India at the SCG.
When selectors controversially left him out of their first-choice batting line-up for the 2016 World Cup, the tournament descended into an unmitigated disaster for Australia. By the time he was finally recalled and smashed 43 off 34 balls in the final pool game against India, it was too little too late.
Then last year, Finch carried form and fitness issues into the World Cup in the UAE, only to produce some steady knocks, tactical smarts and calm leadership amid the Justin Langer dressing room drama to guide Australia to a historic first ever T20 title.
Of course the jury is still out on whether Finch and Australia might have gone on one year too long, and the proof will be in the pudding at this World Cup.
But Finch is a player who has endured a number of prolonged dry patches with the bat throughout his career, and more often than not he has stepped up in the big moments and has an international T20 and ODI record few can rival.
“You’ve hit on two pretty relevant points there. I think Finchy’s record over his entire career is a pretty incredible one,” said national selector George Bailey who is unequivocal in declaring Finch will captain October’s T20 title defence despite his two recent failures against Zimbabwe.
“He’s a leader of the team and I think you’d be a very brave person to write him off. I’m very excited for him to lead his team in a home World Cup, which is pretty special.”
However, there is another side to Clarke’s signature moment at the 2015 World Cup which might serve as some future food for thought for Finch as he ponders whether or not to continue to walk the tightrope and forge on to the 50-over World Cup in another 12 months’ time.
Fuelled by the euphoria of lifting the trophy in front of 100,000 fans at the MCG, Clarke saw another Everest on the horizon in the 2015 Ashes tour of England that he felt he could conquer.
Australia still needed Clarke’s captaincy at that point, but Father Time catches up with everyone at some stage – even the greats – and the disastrous Ashes was a sad way for a champion of the game like Clarke to exit.
Australian chiefs want Finch to continue on to the 2023 ODI World Cup to be played in India next October, but at age 36 and in the form he’s currently in, that’s a long way away.
Finch is close mates with coach Andrew McDonald but George Bailey says that bond and his own long-term relationship with the skipper doesn’t make honest conversations about form and future harder.
“I think having a relationship with anyone makes it easier to have conversations with them,” said Bailey.
“ … I don’t think that makes a difference.”
For now though, Finch has earned the faith selectors have put in him to lead the team in the furnace of a home World Cup and feels close to hitting his straps with the bat.
“I’m just trying to work out my footwork patterns and like most players, your first 10 balls are your most vulnerable in any innings that you play,” Finch said.
“But I feel that’s coming along really well. I think the rewards will be there very soon, it just hasn’t happened just yet.”
Originally published as Cricket news: Aaron Finch’s form becoming a key issue for Australia’s T20 and ODI teams