Aussie quicks cop a belting

AARON Finch believes Australia’s rookie bowlers will benefit from the experience of being put to the sword by England’s in-form batsmen.

The world champions need to avoid defeat at Old Trafford tomorrow night to prevent a first ever whitewash by England in a series of five matches or more, after a six-wicket loss to Eoin Morgan’s side in Durham yesterday.

Finch and Shaun Marsh scored centuries at the Riverside ground as Australia amassed a score of 8-310 after Tim Paine won the toss and elected to bat. But it proved to be a comfortable target for the hosts, who eased to victory with 32 balls to spare thanks to an opening stand of 174 from Jason Roy (101) and Jonny Bairstow (79).

Ashton Agar, whose performances with bat and ball have been one of the few positives on a difficult tour, was the pick of the bowlers.

The West Australian finished with figures of 2-48 from his nine overs of spin, but quicks Michael Neser (0-74), Billy Stanlake (1-54) and Jhye Richardson (0-74) were all dealt with harshly by the home batsmen.

Despite the heavy defeat, Finch said the trio, who have 11 caps between them, will be better for the experience.

“The bowlers are still learning, they’re a young and inexperienced attack but the last couple of games we’ve been making the same mistakes, so that’s something that we need to look at,” Finch said.

“We’ve been a little bit too wide or too full at different times and not just hanging in there. The learnings will be valuable, whether they’re good or not. That’s hard to say. But they’ll definitely be valuable going forward.”