After making a sensational start to his World Cup campaign, when his 135 ensured Australia an easy win over England in the opening match, opener Aaron Finch’s form has deserted him.
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But on the eve of their semi-final match against India tomorrow, he said he wasn’t too worried about his form. In a tournament where every Australian player in firing on all cylinders, Finch has regressed since the match on February 14.
In the five matches he has batted after that, Finch’s top score is 24 and he has averaged 12.8. And as if his own high expectations weren’t enough, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting also mentioned in his newspaper column yesterday that Finch “looks to be the only Aussie batsman not in complete control of his game”.
But when asked about his dip in performance and Ponting’s comment, Finch played down the concerns.
Aaron Finch at the SCG, says he feels not far away from a big innings pic.twitter.com/CJDhozn66p
— Andre Mauger (@MaugerVideo) March 24, 2015
“Whenever you don’t get runs, the pressure starts to build up,” Finch said. “But I feel like I’ve been batting nicely, it’s nice to go back to a couple of checkpoints and make sure that I’m on top of my game and feeling good and hitting the ball nicely.
“That’s all I can do and whatever is supposed to happen on Thursday will happen – I’m not someone who over analyses it a lot. In terms of what Ricky said, I didn’t read it but he’s got his own opinions and when you look down our batting list everyone has been playing beautifully and I’m probably the only one who has missed out in the last couple of games.
“But I’m confident going into this match and I’ve got no reason not to be. I’m looking for some big runs.”
Finch spent a long day in the nets with batting coach Michael Di Venuto and Andrew McDonald, the former Australian Test all-rounder who is his good friend and the go-to man whenever he has any issues with his batting.
Finch said McDonald knows a lot about his game, but after spending a considerable period of time yesterday with Finch, he did not have anything substantial to say about his batting, which he feels is a good sign.
“It was just a good opportunity. Andrew is someone I have worked with a lot over the last couple of years – for about 10 or years now – and he’s someone I feel comfortable with,” Finch added.
“He is just a different voice and someone I really trust with my game and just to touch base with him was something I really needed. He is one of my best mates and he knows a lot about the game.”
As for what they found out after the long session, Finch said: “It’s nothing I am too concerned about. Just to refresh a couple of points, going back to the basics of my technique. It’s something that I fall back on when I am not getting a lot of runs.
“It was good just to touch up a couple of things. It was nothing I was overly concerned about, but it was just good to get some fresh ideas and reiterate what I was trying to do.”
Meanwhile, fast bowler Mitchell Johnson revealed that Australia will most probably play the same eleven in the match tomorrow that beat Pakistan last Friday in Adelaide.
“It possibly looks like the same eleven. The bowling unit has done really well, and so have our batsmen,” said Johnson.
