Bailey insists Finch will be Australia T20 World Cup captain

MELBOURNE: Selector George Bailey Sunday insisted under-fire Aaron Finch would be Australia’s skipper at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup, calling mounting criticism of his leadership and form “white noise”.

Finch’s scores of one and 12 in their opening two games against New Zealand last week, coupled with his failure to fire in the recent Big Bash League, has sparked debate over whether he is the right man for the job.

But Bailey told the Melbourne Herald Sun there was no doubt in his mind the 34-year-old opener would be leading the side in India in October.

“He’s got a terrific average, he’s the captain of this side and he’ll be the captain of this side at the World Cup,” said Bailey, one of three selectors alongside Trevor Hohns and national coach Justin Langer.

“It’s just complete white noise for me,” he added of the criticism.

Doubts around Finch have been raging, led by former selector Mark Waugh.

“His job is to score runs... no batsman is immune from being dropped when you’re not scoring runs, doesn’t matter if you’re captain or not,” said Waugh, now a pundit.

Australian media have also weighed in with the Sydney Morning Herald saying Finch was “running out of chances to book his ticket to this year’s T20 World Cup”.