RED ALERT FOR TOP ORDER
AARON Finch will throw himself into red-ball cricket 36 hours after Australia’s final T20 in a determined bid to find form before his first home Test match.
The limited-overs captain and Test opener is now Australia’s only all-format cricketer but despite the non-stop workload he has shouldered since late September, he will almost certainly pull on the whites for Victoria at the Gabba next week instead of taking a rest. Finch has not opened the batting for his state for several seasons but Victoria would be under pressure to bow to national interests and give Justin Langer’s top order linchpin the chance to open against the red ball.
Victoria could now have two openers playing the first Test against India on December 6 after Marcus Harris made a matchdefining 67 yesterday to sink Tasmania at Bellerive Oval.
Harris averages 35.55 from 67 first-class matches but has entered the selection frame because he’s one of only three domestic players to have compiled 400-plus runs this Shield season – and at an average of 87.40.
The 26-year-old says he’s repaired a frosty relationship with Langer after leaving Western Australia in acrimonious circumstances a few seasons back and could take advantage of selection favourite Matthew Renshaw’s form stumbles.
Peter Handscomb didn’t do his Test bid any favours with another failure