Finch says Big Show certainly not over yet
CRICKET NATIONAL experimentation could cost Glenn Maxwell a return to the one-day team but Aussie opener Aaron Finch says his state teammate is batting better than ever.
Selectors delayed naming a replacement for the injured Chris Lynn, opting instead to watch Big Bash games yesterday and today with several potential replacements on show ahead of Sunday’s opening ODI clash with England at the MCG.
That includes on-fire Queenslander Joe Burns as well as untried duo Darcy Short and Ashton Turner who both fit the brief of selection panel chairman Trevor Hohns.
He has declared he wants to build a squad capable of winning the 2019 World Cup in England.
Finch conceded that plenty of new faces could find themselves playing around “bankers” like captain Steve Smith and his opening partner David Warner in the 29 one-day games Australia is scheduled to play before next year’s tournament.
That policy could poten- tially count against Maxwell, who was dumped last week, and his cause wasn’t helped by a public dressing down from Smith who questioned the Victorian’s training habits and his lack of consistency.
But on the back of former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting declaring Maxwell the best option to replace Lynn, Finch said the enigmatic Victorian had displayed all the traits of a mature cricketer both in training and by answering his critics with a bagload of runs in the Sheffield Shield and the Big Bash.
“The way that he’s batting is as good as I have seen him in terms of his tempo,” Finch said.
“He has changed a little bit from being all guns blazing from the first ball to giving himself a little bit of time. In the lead-up to the Shield season his training was fantastic and I think his results have reflected that in terms of the pure output of runs.
“You can’t really argue with a couple of 60s, a 280 (278) then a 96 in three back-toback games in the Shield.”
Maxwell played a lone hand for his underperforming Stars outfit on Tuesday night, pounding 60 runs from just 39 balls.
It was his second half-century in three innings since his one-day dumping.
THE WAY THAT HE’S BATTING IS AS GOOD AS I HAVE SEEN HIM IN TERMS OF HIS TEMPO. HE HAS CHANGED A LITTLE BIT FROM BEING ALL GUNS BLAZING FROM THE FIRST BALL TO GIVING HIMSELF A LITTLE BIT OF TIME
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