The Cairns Post

Shake-up playing on mind

- STEVE LARKIN

ONE-DAY captain Aaron Finch admits the bloodletti­ng at Cricket Australia’s headquarte­rs has put some doubts in his mind.

But Finch says the swathe of changes to Cricket Australia hierarchy can’t be used as a reason for on-field failures.

“When there is changes, and there’s things being said and written about, I think it’s hard not to read it sometimes when it’s everywhere,” Finch said.

But Finch denied the offfield ructions played a part in Australia’s series-opening loss to South Africa on Sunday in Perth.

“For me personally, I don’t think it affected me in terms of my preparatio­n or my performanc­e,” he said.

Finch praised outgoing high performanc­e manager Pat Howard, saying his exit was “unfortunat­e”.

“He was in a really difficult situation and did an unbelievab­le job during that period,” he said. “It’s unfortunat­e that Pat has gone, I know how much he loved the game.”

 ?? Picture: AAP IMAGE ?? STAYING FOCUSED: Skipper of Australia’s one-day cricket team Aaron Finch.
Picture: AAP IMAGE STAYING FOCUSED: Skipper of Australia’s one-day cricket team Aaron Finch.

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