Finch welcomes baptism of fire
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 win tomorrow at Old Trafford to prevent a first whitewash by England in a series of five games or more, after a sixwicket loss to Eoin Morgan’s side yesterday in Durham.
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 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.
“It just feels like we’re always chasing the game at the moment. There’s nowhere to hide in this game, we’re playing against the best in the world.
“The learnings will be valuable, whether they’re good or not. That’s hard to say. But they’ll definitely be valuable going forward.”
Finch played well for his sixth century against England but conceded he should have stayed at the crease for longer and taken full responsibility for the team not putting on a huge score to challenge England’s aggressive approach.
“I could have got us to a lot more,” he said.
Australian pace bowler Joe Mennie has become the first player in the English County Championship to be subbed out of a game with concussion after being struck on the side of the head by the ball.
The 29- year- old South Australian, who is playing for Lancashire was hit on the right side of his head during his follow through by New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill, who is playing for Worcester.
Mennie reportedly deflected the ball towards his temple and was momentarily laid out.
He was able to walk from the round unassisted.