'Blew my mind': Finch outlines secret to England's rise

Outgoing Australia T20I captain Aaron Finch believes a key to England's remarkable rise as a men's white-ball superpower is the sheer volume of domestic cricket they play in comparison to their Ashes rivals.

Finch, who yesterday announced his retirement from international cricket but confirmed he will continue to play in the KFC BBL and will eye other overseas competitions including the UK's Hundred, has observed England's evolution in the 50 and 20-over arenas from close quarters.

When he debuted for Australia in a T20 fixture against the old enemy at Adelaide Oval in January 2011, England had only recently secured their first global white ball trophy (the 2010 T20 World Cup) and remained without success at the ICC's quadrennial ODI tournament.

But he walks away from the international game with England's men's team not only holding both white-ball World Cups, but also rewriting the script for Test matches where their audacious 'Baz Ball' approach under new coach Brendon McCullum has brought a limited-overs flavour to five-day matches.

Finch, who first encountered the UK system as an 18-year-old playing league cricket in England's north before undertaking senior stints with Yorkshire (2014-15) and Surrey (2016-18), admits he was stunned when he first saw how county players prepare for limited-overs games.

Due to the log-jam of matches teams face – a player involved in the county, one-day cup, T20 Blast and Hundred competitions could participate in up to 50 fixtures – the main training session prior to white-ball outings is often held on the morning of the game.

And Finch sees that relentless workload, which compares to a maximum 35 matches for an all-formats player in Australia's domestic men's set-up, as integral to producing players who can switch seamlessly between formats and game plans.

"Their young guys are exposed to a lot of cricket, especially through their developing years when it's probably easier to make changes in your game," Finch said of the England set-up.

"Even from club cricket right through to international level, they just play so many games especially in the one-day and T20 space.

"And because there's so much cricket, there's also differences in the way they train.

"They don't train as much, but they use net sessions on the mornings of their games as their main practice sessions so you have guys batting, batting and batting just hours before a match starts.

"That kind of blew my mind the first time I saw it, because even back when we used to play 10 Shield games and 10 one-day games across a domestic summer, you'd have a couple of days lead-in to each match where you got all your preparation done and then just focused in on your performance."

Image Id: 160D0CEEF7324513A535180ABA66B3CE Image Caption: Finch with wife Amy and daughter Esther at the MCG on Tuesday // Getty

While the Marsh Sheffield Shield remains 10 qualifying games for each state (plus a final), the Marsh One Day Cup has been reduced in recent summers – initially due to COVID-19 restrictions – and is currently seven preliminary matches per team, plus a final.

And Cricket Australia has already confirmed in the wake of the recently completed broadcast rights agreement the BBL will be reduced from its current 61 games to 43.

While Finch does not suggest the 18-team county schedule could or should be replicated in Australia, he does note the high volume of matches lends itself to the sort of high-risk innovation that's come to characterise England's batting approach to limited-overs, and now Test cricket.

In particular, Finch believes the often smaller county grounds offer greater rewards for entrepreneurial stroke-makers in the knowledge that – should their adventurous tactics fail – they have another opportunity a day or two later to further perfect techniques and make amends.

"From what I've seen over the last 10 years in the way they train, is a greater acceptance of failure if you like," Finch told cricket.com.au.

"I think we're in a space at the moment in Australia where that's being accepted around most programs, and that's good because guys are prepared to really push themselves and the boundaries over there purely because they play so much.

"They know that if they miss out a couple of times in a row, they're going to be playing again in the next day or two.

"So even if they've failed, they just keep giving it a go and that probably helps with the innovations in the game, plus our conditions, our wickets and our grounds perhaps don't allow for it that much.

"There's certainly more innovation in the English game, right through the system.

"Almost everybody ramps, everybody reverse sweeps and hard sweeps, and even keeps wickets and bowls a bit.

"They're definitely a well-skilled outfit."

Finch believes competition at any level in the UK offers priceless opportunities for Australia players wanting to further develop their games, particularly those looking to build on performances in the recently concluded BBL|12.

Australia's men's team is not due to play their next round of T20I matches until next August and September in South Africa, and Sydney Sixers all-rounder Sean Abbott has already signed to play for Surrey in both red and white-ball formats until the end of July this year.

Finch cites his stint in league cricket during his formative years as crucial to his development as a player and a professional, and has urged any aspiring young player – or even senior players in the Australia system who have not experienced a UK season – to consider exploring that option.

"You've just got to keep playing wherever you can get an opportunity," Finch said today.

"I think it's important for young guys to go to England in the off-season and learn how to be an international pro - whether that's at club level, I don't think that makes any difference.

"Living away from home as an 18-year-old was probably the best thing that I ever did in my career.

"To learn how to handle the pressures of being an international player for a club team in England – I played in the north of England, and they can be pretty brutal if you miss out a couple of times.

"So it just teaches you how to be a professional and how to manage the expectations of being an international player as well, at all levels."