Australian T20 captain Aaron Finch says he’s not going to retire “just yet” but the decision looms large after his side crashed out of their World Cup defence at the Super 12 stage.
England’s win over Sri Lanka on Saturday night ensured the Aussies would fail to make the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, with either the Poms, New Zealand, India or Pakistan to claim the title.
Finch’s form has been a talking point for months and the 35-year-old’s fitness limited his impact on the tournament leading to questions over whether he would hang up the boots.
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But speaking to reporters on Sunday Finch said he planned on participating in the Big Bash League over the summer before making a call on his future.
He would not be needed to captain Australia in a T20I until the middle of next year anyway.
“No, I’m not going to retire. Not just yet,” Finch said.
“I’ll play Big Bash and see where we sit after that, but I’m still enjoying playing cricket, playing T20.
“There’s not another international T20 until August, so there’s quite a long break. Still plenty of time to be able to weigh all that up.”
He added: “It’s been a pretty good ride regardless of what happens.”
England edge Sri Lanka to cut Australia | 02:47
Australian coach Andrew McDonald sounded as if he was leaning towards the expectation of Finch retiring, but he left the door open.
“Haven’t really put much thought or time on that,” McDonald said.
“It’s a little bit raw on the back of the World Cup but he’s got some time to think about that.
“The Big Bash will probably determine his future, how he goes there, his performances, how his body is holding up. His body’s failed him here in terms of his hamstring strain that put him out of the World Cup.
“The next game’s not until August next year so that gives him a lot of time to repair if he’s willing to go on, if not I’m sure over the next couple of weeks he’ll have a think about that and call it.”
Australia missed out on advancing to the semi-final stage despite losing just one game, the opener against New Zealand, while having their clash with England rained out. The Aussies finished third in Group 1 on net run rate.
“Really disappointing, wasn’t in the plan to be heading back to our home ports today,” McDonald said.
“We suffered a slow start to the tournament and we couldn’t really grapple that back.
“Any time things are taken out of your control you’re left feeling a little numb around it.”
