Barmy spell a regret

AUSTRALIA’S cricketers might have been hammered with abuse last time they set foot in England, but captain Aaron Finch will miss the Barmy Army.

The relentlessness of the sledging of the Australians during last year’s Ashes was a major theme of the Amazon documentary The Test, during which coach Justin Langer and several players expressed disbelief at the viciousness of the abuse.

The Barmy Army has been the scourge of many Australian sides on England tours, but Finch says playing the old enemy won’t feel quite the same without them.

Australia and England will do battle from next week in a series of Twenty20 and oneday internationals in front of empty stadiums.

“It’s always good to have a crowd to entertain and the banter,” Finch said.

“Particularly from English crowds is pretty special. Do they go over the top sometimes? Maybe, yeah. But I think it’s a great thing to be a part of.

“Especially if you beat England over here, you know you have to overcome so much.

“It will be different but I don’t think it will take away from the intensity of the game whatsoever, not from our point of view.”

Australian players in their private jet touched down in Derby and went straight to the county cricket ground, where they were permitted to pull out their wedges and hit golf balls in the outfield.

Players are expected to wear masks and stay in the confines of their quarantine accommodation, but Finch said that was not hard.

“The curator got some mats out for us so we were hitting some golf balls on the ground, just to be out in the sun,” he said.

“That’s as weird as it’s been. We had one beautiful day when we landed here and it hasn’t stopped raining since.

“Wearing masks might take a day to get used to and I think just remembering it all the time (is hard).

“Instead of just worrying about your phone and room key, you’ve got your accreditation pass and your mask.

“Most of it is just common sense, to be honest.”

Finch praised the appointment of Chris Rogers as Victoria’s new head coach, and put a line through his own prospects of playing Test cricket again in the future.

The white-ball skipper believes he won’t get enough opportunity to play four-day cricket between now and the end of his career.

Finch said there were too many talented red-ball batsmen coming through the state ranks for him to be a realistic chance of reclaiming the Test spot he held last time India came to Australia, two summers ago.