Australia rest Warner, recall Finch for N Zealand

Australia have recalled opening batsman Aaron Finch and decided to rest in-form David Warner in a 14-man squad for the one-day series in New Zealand starting next week.

“David has had a very big summer and will benefit from a break in cricket, both mentally and physically,” interim national selector Trevor Hohns said yesterday. Vice-captain Warner was man-ofthe-match against Pakistan in Sydney on Sunday when he hit 130 off 98 balls, his 12th one-day century. Hohns praised Finch’s return to form in the Twenty20 format. “His form in the Big Bash League (BBL) has been very good and he has earned his recall,” the selector said.

Finch said he had made some “slight technical changes” to his game and sharpened his mental approach which had led to him amassing 354 runs, including four fifties, in the BBL.

“I’m pretty comfortable with the changes that I’ve made. I’m also mentally in a better spot for the changes, and probably for being dropped. “It gives you to time to reflect and analyse your game a little bit more in-depth than if you just roll from series to series,” Finch said. Western Australian batsman Shaun Marsh is the only other change to the one-day side that have already won the current one-day series against Pakistan 3-1 with a match left to play in Adelaide on Thursday. Marsh comes in for Usman Khawaja who is heading to Dubai early to prepare for the tour of India next month. “This provides Shaun with a chance to get back into international cricket following his injury earlier in the summer,” Hohns added in a statement.

The squad will depart for New Zealand on Friday with Australia currently holding the one-day Chappell-Hadlee trophy after beating New Zealand 3-0 at home late last year. The matches are in Auckland on January 30, Napier on February 2 and Hamilton on February 5.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (capt), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.