Australia wrapped up a comprehensive 4-1 series victory despite losing the final match of their T20 series against Sri Lanka at the MCG.
The series was a chance for the Aussies to experiment with their T20 side with a number of Big Bash stars and fringe players used.
Australian T20 World Cup winners David Warner and Mitch Marsh did not play in the series, while Steve Smith and bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood rested for some games during the series.
Although the series was a success for Australia, questions still remain about the form and place in the team of captain Aaron Finch.
Finch dropped down the batting order to first-drop to find some form, however his numbers for the series were disappointing – five matches, five innings with 78 runs scored at an average of 15.60 with a top score of 35 and a strike-rate of 91.76
According to Australian wicketkeeper great Ian Healy, the position of Finch must be in question when the T20 World Cup is played in October.
“Finch‘s numbers don’t demand him being in that (World Cup) team. It’s not good enough,” Healy told SEN 1116.
“In the last three years, he’s been through at least two really low periods where he can’t get a run. He’s much more conservative in his intentions now and he’s not the all-out thrashing machine that Aaron Finch has always been.”
However, Australian teammate Matthew Wade is backing his skipper to find some form.
“Finchy is a class player and I’ve heard people questioning where he’s at. He averages 40 and strikes at 140 for a reason because he’s a class player, he’s the captain of our team,” Wade said.
“The questions are always going to come when you get a little bit older and you don’t do well in one series or not the next.”
Despite Finch struggling for form, overall the series was successful for the Aussies with the chance to rest a number of World Cup stars before the upcoming tour of Pakistan, and a chance to experiment with players and the batting order.
Fringe player Josh Inglis and established stars Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Josh Hazlewood all played strong throughout the series and look on track to have a big World Cup later this year.
Finch explained the series was used to try different players and mix-up the batting order and the team.
“Yeah, just an experiment, a little bit of a shuffle around the side,” Finch explained.
“It’s important to keep finding out information when you’ve got a little bit of time in a series to be able to experiment with things because you don’t want to get to a World Cup and still be trying to tinker with your team, so we’re just trying to find out a bit more information.”
With the Australian summer of cricket now over, excitement will turn to the upcoming tour of Pakistan, the first time in 24 years that the Aussies have toured the country.
