Refreshed Aaron Finch ready to lead Melbourne Renegades against Hobart Hurricanes
Aaron Finch is refreshed and ready to lead the Melbourne Renegades in a Big Bash League cameo tomorrow night before he departs to captain Australia in the ODI series against India.
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Aaron Finch is refreshed and ready to lead the Melbourne Renegades in a Big Bash League cameo tomorrow night before he departs to captain Australia in the ODI series against India.
Finch, 32, spent the weekend relaxing and opted not to train with the red team at Marvel Stadium last night.
The slashing opener has endured a hectic two weeks.
Finch has moved house, recovered from a nasty finger injury, played his maiden Boxing Day Test and was then dropped after a pair of batting failures on his home MCG.
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“I’ve spoken to him the past couple of days,” Gades coach Andrew McDonald said yesterday.
“He’s going well, he seems refreshed. It’s obviously disappointing to see him miss out on that final Test match.
“But he’s had a few days away from the game so he’s ready to go and ready to lead the side. He’s in a good space, which is great.
“He came in this morning to participate in the selection of the 13 (squad).”
The 2-3 Renegades host the undefeated Hobart Hurricanes at Marvel Stadium and while they will lose Finch to Australian duties after tonight, Test opener Marcus Harris will replace him on Friday against Brisbane Heat.
McDonald was unsure who would make way for Finch.
“We’re going to have to leave a batsman out,” McDonald said.
“We’ll work through that with Finchy. It’s something we’ll probably decide overnight.”
Cameron White and Tom Cooper are in the gun after poor starts to the summer.
White has scored just three runs from two knocks at Marvel Stadium this summer while Cooper has averaged nine runs from five games as captain.
But Hobart bowlers Johan Botha, James Faulkner, Clive Rose, Jofra Archer and D’Arcy Short have never dismissed White in the BBL with the veteran scoring 58 runs from 53 deliveries against them.
Cooper has made an unbeaten 67 runs from 48 balls against Botha, Faulkner and Short but has been dismissed by paceman Archer without ever scoring off him.
Finch has smashed 70 runs from just 42 balls against Faulkner although has struggled against Botha, with head-to-head figures of 2/14 (12 balls).
“It’s always nice to have the captain of your team back,” McDonald said.
“He’s usually got a pretty good record at Marvel (Stadium). If he can contribute and others get off the back of that’d be fantastic.”
Finch’s 1669 runs for the Renegades is more than double their next best.
McDonald wants his bowlers to keep Hobart blasters Short and Wade “guessing” tonight.
Batting great Mark Waugh yesterday declared the 5-0 Hurricanes “a long way in front” in the BBL as pressure builds on the Marvel Stadium pitch to deliver a better contest between bat and ball.
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