Aaron Finch’s World Cup ambition drives team

The undertakers have been rubbing their hands with glee as pundits declare that ODI cricket is dead. Try telling that to Aaron Finch.

Aaron Finch is excited by both the T20 and ODI world cups in the coming 12 months Picture: Getty Images

Don’t tell Australian captain Aaron Finch that one-day cricket is dying.

Undertakers have rubbed their hands with glee in recent months as commentators read the last rites and administrators administered the sacred ointments to the 50-over game in the recent Future Tours Program, but Finch has an almost full-strength squad and ­series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand kicking off this Sunday in Townsville.

The captain is confident the format’s halo of flies will disappear next year with a World Cup in India and everyone will remark on its miracle recovery.

“(Coach) Andrew McDonald summed it up well recently,” Finch said. “He said it goes in phases. Whatever is relevant at the time eclipses the other format.

“A while ago everyone was saying T20 international cricket was dying and then two World Cups come around in quick succession and it is back in fashion, but by this time next year with the build-up to a World Cup in India, which is as big as it gets, ODIs will be back in fashion and everyone will be talking about it again.”

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It’s not often Finch gets to eat from the full buffet, but Australia has an almost full squad and he’s enjoying the situation.

Former captain-across-all-­formats Steve Smith is available to play his fiddle in the middle when he’s made it to less than half Australia’s ODI encounters since the 2019 World Cup. David Warner, fresh from his reconciliation with the BBL, is also on hand and not on a break. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are happy to play and of the big names, Pat Cummins is the only absentee. The recently married Test captain has been given more time to rehabilitate a few niggles.

If Finch finds it frustrating to often find himself on the field without the best available talent, he does a good job of hiding it.

“It happens more regularly these days but that’s because there’s so much content,” he said. “If you go back 10 to 15 years guys weren’t playing three formats, there weren’t these domestic ­leagues around, players were always available for Australia.

“The scheduling and the way the future tours program had to be flooded toward the back end after Covid made things difficult.

“The longevity of players is so important now. There are always going to be times when you are looking into the future, which means you can try and get games into people who can take the one-day and T20 team forward in the next five or six years after this brigade moves out. It’s a great opportunity to find the next crop of players past the next World Cup.”

Zimbabwe arrives with three wins from its last 21 ODIs, but New Zealand promises to provide more competition.

Finch flew on Tuesday to Townsville for the first games with the squad.

Communication can be an issue in cricket during the downtime, but the 35-year-old has recently moved to Geelong with his wife and child.

It’s been a good move, he says. His brother, who is a plumber, lives nearby, his mum and dad spend a lot of time at nearby Apollo Bay and his golf club is only 20 minutes drive, which cuts out a long commute from their former abode in Melbourne.

Even better, McDonald is his neighbour and they spend plenty of time together talking cricket and Australian rules football.

McDonald has backed his mate through some thin periods and stated earlier this year that Finch, like others, had been through some bad patches but always come through when needed.

“We’re building a team around him as a captain,” McDonald said.

The 12th-highest run-scorer for Australia in 50-over cricket, Finch has an average of 40 and a strike rate of 88. He’s hit 17 centuries and 30 half centuries.

Together, he and Warner have a combined 10,000 runs at the top of the order and that includes strong performances in the successful 2015 campaign.

Last year, Finch led the Australians to an unexpected and unprecedented victory in the T20 World Cup in India and after some reflection said that participating in that game was a career highlight.

“It was amazing,’’ he said. “I think the fact that not many people gave us any chance at all, that made it sweeter because if we are being honest our form line leading into the tournament wasn’t great, but the fact we were able to bring it together at the pointy end in such a cutthroat tournament, you need a few things go your way but we made the most of it.

“It’s right up there. We went in as favourites for the 50-over World Cup in 2019 and we’d been very dominant in the lead-up to that. There was an expectation to win that, but there wasn’t with this one. We had some fun, we played aggressive and we took it on. It probably sits right at the top.”

Finch is 35 and with two World Cups in the next 12 months is in that part of a cricketer’s life and cricket’s cycle which gets players thinking about retirement.

“It’s something I haven’t given too much thought to in that regard because I don’t want to think about it,” he said. “For one thing, everyone says you are a long time retired and you have to make the most of it while you can.”