Roy puts Aussies on red alert for Ashes
AARON FINCH has backed Jason Roy to transfer his destructive talents to Test cricket in England’s middle order.
Australia found themselves on the end of a Roy special yesterday as he hammered 85 to end Aussies’ hopes of an eighth World Cup final.
When asked whether he thought the England opener could cut it in red-ball cricket, Finch was in no doubt.
“He definitely goes hard having played with him for a few years now for Surrey. He’s a player who, when he’s on, he can be so damaging to an opposition – and in such quick time as well,” said the Australia skipper.
“I’m not sure what the wickets are going to be like in the Ashes series. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
“But he’s got some really good hundreds in county cricket, probably more so in the middle-order.
“That is just one of those things that if he gets going on his day, he can be brutal. He can score so quick in all forms of the game, he is a very dangerous threat, no doubt.”
Australia were nursing bruises following the semi-final mauling, no one more so than wicketkeeperbatsman Alex Carey, who had eight stitches in a cut in his chin after being hit by a bouncer from Jofra Archer.
Finch said: “He’s very tough. I think the grille got pushed back into his chin and he had seven or eight stitches in his jaw there and he was a bit sore on the other side.
“But apparently he looks all clear for any clinical tests for a fracture or anything like that. It would take a bit more than that to get him out of the game.”
Finch was also adamant that the defeat will have no bearing on the Ashes squad.
“I don’t think that the guys carry too much baggage when you are going between formats,” he said.
“If we rolled up and played a one-dayer tomorrow, there might be a few scars there but, in terms of the Test, I don’t think so.”
He added: “We were just totally outplayed by a very good England side. They have been the benchmark in one-day cricket for a fair while now and they proved it today under pressure.”