The captain is struggling, the other opener has a cricked neck, the all-rounders aren’t fully fit to bowl and the ‘Big Show’ is in one of the biggest ruts of his life.
For all that, Australia enter the home Twenty20 World Cup with quiet confidence born of having unexpectedly won last year’s event in the UAE, the self-awareness that the short format is notoriously fickle, and the excitement that in unveiling the fierce hitting of Tim David, the team have made one significant improvement on last year’s combination.
Australian captain Aaron Finch, right, holds the trophy at a media event ahead of the men’s T20 World Cup. Credit:Martin Keep, Getty Images
Aaron Finch’s address in the Plaza Ballroom as part of the tournament captains’ event was a minor masterpiece in deflecting questions about his team’s state of performance and of mind.
Regarding his own game, Finch declared he would open the batting throughout and pointed to T20’s tendency to allow for rapid changes in fortune. Asked about the battling and clearly fatigued Glenn Maxwell, he predicted a “huge” tournament based on how “still” he looked at the practice crease.
As for all-rounders Mitch Marsh (still not yet fit to bowl) and Marcus Stoinis (not fit to bowl in back-to-back matches), Finch hoped that three and four-day gaps between games would grant them enough recovery time to add vital balance. Saturday marked the deadline for any changes to Cup squads: Australia have made none.
If David Warner misses Australia’s final warm up game, against India in Brisbane on Monday night, with his sore neck, there is no doubt at all about Tim David’s place in the team nor capability to shape the tournament. For Finch, David is a signifier that greater T20 specialisation may be on the way for other players.
“He’s a star. Around the world he’s well and truly recognised in the T20 scene and I think it has its advantages, dedicating your craft to one format,” Finch said. “It allows you to become really specialised, and I think that can in time translate to one-day cricket as well for him. He’s as clean a striker of the ball as you’ll get. I think he’ll definitely be a household name by the time the tournament’s done.
“He brings a real calmness to that finishing role. For someone to have his ability to be really composed under pressure in a really frantic time of the game is something that has taken me a little bit by surprise, how quickly he’s adapted to that.
“That comes with playing a lot of T20 cricket in a similar role for the last couple of years. He’s slotted into that role really nicely, having that connection with [Matthew Wade] from Hobart and then batting at six and seven together with [five] Marcus Stoinis who are all three good friends as well. That five, six, seven is really solid.”
Aaron Finch’s Australians celebrate their T20 World Cup victory in the UAE last year.Credit:Getty Images
Overall then, Australia have popped a few rivets in recent weeks, but know they have the raw materials from which to craft a tournament winning combination. Certainly, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa have plenty to recommend them on Australian pitches.
“We’re really close to nailing it, probably just with the bat we’ve been one wicket too many down leading into the back eight overs,” Finch said. “It’d be nice if we’re two down, but we’ve been three and every time we’ve been building a partnership we lose one.
“That’s the game of T20 when you’re looking to take it on and chase totals. But with the ball, I think we’ve been really good. In that first game against England when they were off to … 120 after 10 overs, to drag it back was a really good effort. All round we’re really close.”
