Australian limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch has called on players travelling to the Caribbean and Bangladesh for upcoming white-ball trips to put in strong performances that can add to the selectors’ headache as far as T20 World Cup selection is concerned.
Australia will be taking on West Indies in three ODIs and five T20Is from July 9 to July 24, and then fly across to Bangladesh and play a further five T20Is against the hosts in early August.
While the ODIs are part of Australia’s ICC Super League campaign, it is the T20Is that currently carry a lot more weightage for Finch and the management who want players to push hard and put in solid performances that can enable their World Cup selection.
“It’ll give the guys on this tour an opportunity to almost take their [World Cup] spots, I guess. I think the great thing about Australian cricket at the moment is that the guys that are performing really well in BBL and domestic cricket, are the ones that are getting the opportunities,”
Finch was quoted as saying on Friday (June 25) by Cricbuzz.
With David Warner, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith (injury) opting out, the selectors had made six new additions to the 23-man preliminary squad, which was announced. They had also named a fresh face in the fast bowling category, Wes Agar, who was retained in the pruned 18-member playing party.
“Playing cricket for Australia and doing well is the ultimate, in my opinion. So for guys to be on this tour to get the first opportunity to put their hand up and take that spot is what it’s about. It’s tough to ignore really good international performances,”
Finch said.
While the T20 World Cup looks set to move out of India and be played in UAE, Finch said with the surfaces in West Indies and Bangladesh throwing up similar challenges. They will be prepared well for wherever the tournament ends up.
Sticking to the aspect of the condition, Finch added that the core of his team could look completely different than how they had initially planned it to be. Originally scheduled for Australia last year, the T20 World Cup was postponed and shifted to India due to the global coronavirus pandemic and the logistical hurdles it brought along.
“It [team combinations] could change a lot. That was based on the World Cup being in Australia and I thought our side in the lead-up to the original World Cup meant to be held here was really settled. You have to keep restructuring your side to gather more information. The more the wickets change and the more they go away from our traditional Australian wickets, the more we have to keep learning.”
Five-time ODI World Cup champions, Australia have not yet won a T20 World Cup. And Finch said it is something they desire to achieve with the tournament set for back-to-back events in the coming two years, including one Down Under in 2022.
The series against West Indies begins with the first of five T20Is on July 9, followed by matches on July 10, 12, 14 and 16, respectively.
The ODIs, which would have points at stake in ICC Super League, which determines direct qualification spots for 2023 World Cup, will be played on July 20, 22 and 24. St Lucia will host the T20I series, with Barbados hosting the ODIs. After a short break, Finch and company will be in Bangladesh for a five-match T20I series, for which the dates and venues aren’t yet announced.
