Australian T20 captain Aaron Finch opened up during the week about the chance of being dropped even further down the batting order, however, former star Mark Waugh has called for him to remain at the top of the order.
Finch has struggled enormously for form, and his spot in the side has come under constant questioning during the opening four games of the ongoing five-match series against Sri Lanka.
The captain, who recently skippered Australia to a T20 World Cup triumph in the United Arab Emirates, is in preparation mode for the next World Cup, which will be played at the end of this year on home soil.
However, there would appear to be no guarantee he remains in the team until then.
Moved down the order for the third and fourth match against Sri Lanka, he managed some runs in the Canberra contest, but still appeared scratchy as Ashton Agar was promoted to the top.
Waugh said Finch should open or not play at all during Fox Cricket's coverage of the fourth match.
“There are probably three or four others who could do the job — McDermott, Josh Philippe, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis — so there’s lot of choice for the opening spot, and that’s why Aaron Finch can’t waste that spot,” Waugh said.
“I don’t see him at five, I see him opening or not in the team at all.
“In the ideal world, we want to see Aaron Finch make runs and not have to talk about it,”
“But we’ve been talking about this for the past 15 months.
“Now, he’s not the player he was, there’s no doubt about that, and I think the stats do back that up. His strike rate in all forms of T20 cricket — IPL, Big Bash and T20 Internationals — has dropped 20 points over the past two years, from 145 to about 125.
“His average has dropped from about 35 to the high 20s and it’s probably the way he’s batting, he’s just not dominating like he used to. I think he's a little uncomfortable against raw pace and wrist spin, so he really needs to finish this series really strongly.
“I’d have him opening again, I don’t know what he didn’t open the other night when he needs runs moving forward. I’m not saying he won’t be there for the World Cup but it’d be great to see him get into some sort of form.”
