Australia opener Aaron Finch has opened up on his batting struggles since making his long-awaited Test debut last year. Finch, who started his Test career in the UAE vs Pakistan, hit a fifty in his maiden innings but hasn’t found much success since. During the India tour, he managed 97 runs across six innings before being dropped for the fourth and final Test.
He was also overlooked for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka which the hosts went on to clean sweep. His limited-overs form has also taken a dip.
“Probably the last six months have been the most difficult of my career in terms of chopping and changing formats,” Finch told SEN Breakfast. “Making my Test debut and playing a bit more Test cricket was probably a mental challenge more than anything.”
The fact that Finch had to recalibrate his approach depending on which format he has been playing has also been a vital learning experience for the Victorian.
“To play in Dubai and then come straight back into an ODI and T20 series and Test matches and things like that, it’s probably been the longest sustained period that I’ve played cricket for Australia. In terms of that, it was quite mentally challenging and something that I probably didn’t give the guys who played all three formats of the game enough credit (for) in the past,” Finch was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Thursday.
He continued, “You see them come off a Test series and come into the one-day game and you think ‘jeez, they’re a bit flat. I don’t know why, they’re playing cricket for Australia’ and it’s not until you’ve been in that position yourself that every now and then you need five minutes to yourself at times to get away. It might be a day or two.”
Following his repeated failures at the top in Test cricket, his technique and position in the longest format was called into question but Finch is unfazed and is still enjoying the challenge.
“That’s been difficult and on the back of not making enough runs myself, that makes it even more of a challenge. At times – I don’t tend to read too much of what’s written – you find yourself combing through a few papers and seeing some negative stuff. So it does wear you down a little bit but at the same time, it’s been amazing. I wouldn’t change it for anything. It was a great learning experience for me about my game and myself but also management of my own time and my own emotions. It was a really good challenge and something I’ve defiantly learnt from,” he said.
