T20 World Cup: Australian selectors need to prepare for Aaron Finch to fail

It may not be quite time for Aaron Finch to be given the flick, writes Robert Craddock, but it’s past time to prepare a Plan B.

Australia's captain Aaron Finch walks off after being dismissed during the third one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Australia and Zimbabwe at the Riverway Stadium in Townsville on September 3, 2022. (Photo by William WEST / AFP) / – IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE –

It’s time for Australia’s cricket selectors to hatch a secret Plan B to be activated if Aaron Finch’s form cannot be rescued before or during the World T20.

Planning for captaincy appointments – short and long term - has never been Australia’s strong suit but it cannot just drift along towards the World T20 in Australia in October assuming Finch will get it right on the night.

Or even that he will actually get to the night itself even though he has been selected for it.

Finch voluntarily ended his outstanding 50 over cricket career (see below) after failing in Australia’s north Queensland matches against Zimbabwe and New Zealand.

That released the pressure on him to proceed to October’s World T20 in Australia but the reality is that nothing has changed.

Pat Cummins (R) would be a safe pair of hands to replace Aaron Finch (L) as T20 captain. Picture: Aamir Qureshi/AFP

He is still out of form. Australia has eight T20 matches, including a three match series in India, to prepare for the World T20 in October.

The length of that schedule is significant. Eight matches is long enough for Finch to recapture form and enter the tournament with fresh gusto.

But if he cannot find form then five or six failures out of eight games would put huge pressure on him to either retire before the series or stand down as captain.

Hopefully Finch will find form but if he doesn’t Australia needs to have a bail out option up its sleeve.

It’s too late to get funky with the leadership in a Mitchell Marsh or a Glenn Maxwell sort of way.

The best option would be Pat Cummins, always a soothing presence in a crisis, with Steve Smith and David Warner hustling the troops in the field.

Aaron Finch finished his ODI career by choice, but form could end his T20 run. Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP

Because the World T20 squad has been chosen Finch will be part of it if he does not retire.

But if he pulled the pin before the series, which cannot be discounted given he is a generous, team-orientated player, Australia would be allowed to slot in a replacement player and appoint a new captain.

Crisis over captains are a very disabling force for a cricket team because their form slumps seems to overshadow all other issues with the team.

When Mark Taylor was struggling for 18 months in the 1990s, even winning Test matches felt occasionally underwhelming.

Upon returning from the victorious 1997 Ashes tour, one player said at the airport: “It was an unusual tour. We won but all we would do is go out, play well then go out to dinner and talk about Tubby and what might happen. The issue felt all around us.’’

When a skipper is out of form players turn up at media briefings and are asked “what about the captain’s form?’’ and routinely defend them, all the while hiding deeper concerns that can never be made public.

JUST ONE WAY FOR FINCH TO SAVE CUP CAMPAIGN

- Julian Linden

Australian cricket’s smartest analysts don’t always see eye-to-eye when it comes to prickly selection issues but everyone is in full agreement that Aaron Finch needs to score runs in a hurry to avoid being unceremoniously dumped during the T20 World Cup.

Although Finch has already been named as skipper for the World Cup squad, starting October 16, he is suddenly under pressure to hold his spot in the Australian starting XI after a prolonged form slump.

He’s already fallen on his sword and retired as leader of the national ODI team and former Australian greats now fear he could lose his spot in the T20 side as well if he doesn’t start getting some runs on the board.

“Any player, even if you‘re captain, is in the team to do a job and he’s in the team to bat,” legendary batter and Fox Sports commentator Mark Waugh said.

“Opening the batting is an important position in white ball cricket and the Australian way is that we always pick our best team then the captain after that.

“So he can‘t just rely on his captaincy in my opinion. He’s got to make runs and he’ll feel better if he does that anyway.”

Aaron Finch captained the team to victory in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup but is struggling to retain his spot for the 2022 edition. Picture: Gareth Copley-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

Former Test leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe was on the same page as Waugh.

The Australians have nine warm up matches to play before the World Cup, which gives Finch plenty of time to rediscover his form.

O’Keefe expects Finch will be captain for the opening match of the World Cup, against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but warned that nothing was guaranteed after that.

“He‘s been in these troughs before and he’s come out of them and that’s what Australia’s hoping for,” O’Keefe said at the launch of Kayo’s Summer of Cricket. “The signs are that this is a deep trough, but the team needs him to come out of it because he‘s the captain.

“The pressure will intensify in this first game if (New Zealand fast bowler) Trent Boult peels back his stumps in the first game because it can put pressure on the middle order.

“If Australia was to lose that first game and Finchy fails again, it will intensify.”

If Finch did lose his place in the side, vice-captain Pat Cummins would almost certainly take over as skipper while there are several batters in line to replace him at the top of the order.

Former paceman Brendon Julian said Finch did not warrant a place in the line-up on current form but the Fox expert commentator said it was still a risky proposition for a team to dump its leader before a major tournament.

“If he wasn’t captain he wouldn’t be playing but is it worth changing and putting a new captain in for the start of the World Cup?” Julian said.

“I don’t think they will do that, but certainly if his form was not good, it needs to be seriously looked at.”

Finch led Australia to a famous victory in the last T20 World Cup, bouncing back after making a duck in the opening match, and former Test skipper Adam Gilchrist thinks the selectors will give him the opportunity to show what he can do with a clear mind after surrendering the 50-over captaincy.

“He certainly starts the tournament, no doubt about that,” Gilchrist said.

“And I guess they‘ll just manage it from there. If he and the selectors feel that it’s proving to be a handbrake or an issue for the team in tournament play, I’m sure they’ll just monitor it and see.

“But I would have no hesitation in starting with him and I think the freedom in his mind, if nothing else now will allow his qualities to shine through.”

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