VICS FLINCH ON FINCH
AUSTRALIA, state, club, grassroots. This has been cricket’s chain of command for as long as I can remember. You break the chain, you do so at your own peril. The consequences of such disrespect are normally delivered with the level of firmness you would expect when punishing a treasonous act. It’s why Victoria making the decision to very publicly flip the bird at the chain of command was so baffling, calculated and slightly brilliant, if you love an antiEstablishment approach. Aaron Finch will enter the first Test against India at the Adelaide Oval as the side’s opening batsperson. He’s only new to this role for Australia against the red ball, but it’s his role for the nation all the same. With a rare block of time free from national T20s and irrelevant ODIs, Finch was made available to represent Victoria in last week’s round of state cricket. Common sense would suggest that his role as Australian opener transitions its way down the command and he opens for Victoria. It was certainly in the best interests of Finch to get as much exposure to the new red Kookaburra delivered at him in the intensity of an actual match. His white-ball form at the very top of the innings has been unusually worrisome. Making the transition even more important for the nation’s interests is that Finch is set to open the batting tomorrow with fellow Victorian, and Australian debutant, Marcus Harris, in Adelaide. That relationship getting an early foundation of chemistry would be critical for both players to feel comfortable in the first Test. Best they run each other out in a shield match, right!? But it’s here that the discussion/debate of national interest gets murky.
Enter the Longstaff review into the game’s culture: “Unfortunately, the focus on winning and the success of the Australian men’s team has pushed the rest of Australian cricket into a subservient role. The sensibilities of Sheffield Shield teams can be overridden … not for the benefit of the shield side but for that of the national team,” the report said.
The result was Victoria caving in to the public pressure heaped on it by their very own Test greats, Shane Warne and Damien Fleming. Yep, boy did they cave by allowing Finch to bat at three, not at five or six as spruiked for an entire week.
Finch entered the game after the fifth ball of the first innings when
Regardless of your individual belief as to the rollout of the hierarchical code, the Longstaff review has already removed Cricket Australia of its power and has changed the game.
Travis Dean was bowled by Michael Neser.
In the second innings, Finch was again at the crease during the first over; Harris out first ball.
Finch and Harris batted together for a total of 24 balls across both innings, allowing no time for chemistry to be built or a run out to take place.
From this, you can draw only one conclusion.
Regardless of your individual belief as to the rollout of the hierarchical code, the Longstaff review has already removed CA of its power and has changed the game.
And even though Victoria wasn’t willing to act in the best interests of national preparation for one of its won, the same can’t be said for Travis Dean, who is still a believer of doing what’s best for his country.