Opener says a focus on three World Cups in three years will make it difficult for him to push his red-ball credentials in domestic cricket
Finch concedes his Test dream is all but over
Aaron Finch believes it is now unrealistic for him to hold onto his dream of again wearing the Baggy Green, as Australia's white-ball skipper accepts the twin realities of a pandemic-hit schedule and Father Time.
Finch played five Tests across the final three months of 2018 during the one-year suspension of fellow opening batter David Warner, impressing in the UAE initially with scores of 62, 49, 39, 31 before he was rocked by an outstanding Indian pace attack in Australia.
In his next three Tests he averaged 16.16 before he was dropped for the final match of that home series, India's first-ever Test campaign triumph Down Under.
Less than a year ago, before the cricket world was rocked by the pandemic, Finch said he wanted to have “one really good crack” at getting back into the Test team before he retires.
But having played just five first-class matches since his last Test, and as Australia looks ahead to three white-ball World Cups in the next three years, Finch knows that ledger is only going to be tilted more in favour of limited-overs cricket.
The 33-year-old, who is in England as skipper of Australia's 21-man touring party for next month's three-match ODI and T20I series against England, also pointed towards the batting talent on the rise in Australia, with Will Pucovski (22), Cameron Green (21) and Bryce Street (22) all having made multiple hundreds in recent Sheffield Shield seasons.
"In terms of red-ball cricket, I don't think it's realistic to play Test cricket again," Finch said from Australia's bio-secure base in Derby on Wednesday.
"Just based on two things: the amount of opportunity to play four-day cricket and force a claim, I think, is going to be really limited; and also the young batters coming through, there are some seriously good players in Australia, especially top-order batters.
"The talent depth is really, really strong at the moment so I don't think that's an opportunity to be honest."
Instead Finch has stated has intention to push on to the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, which he has marked as his swansong. That long road begins next month in England with Australia's three ODIs against the world champions, who knocked them out of last year's World Cup at the semi-final stage.
The opening batsman enjoyed a fine tournament individually, topping 500 runs at an average exceeding 50 to be the seventh-highest run-scorer. It added to a recurring theme through Finch's career: success against the white ball in England.
In 25 ODIs there, the right-hander averages 42.26 with a strike-rate of 96.71, with three hundreds and six fifties. Should he score another 28 runs in this upcoming series, he would be just the fourth Australian to post 1000 runs in Old Enemy territory, after Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke (David Warner, with 895 runs, could also reach that milestone this series).
"It's always a place I've loved batting, right from when I first came over as a club player up in York," Finch said. "I think having played over here for six county seasons in T20 and a bit of four-day cricket helps.
"You play at venues a lot more and you just get more familiar with the place … having big squares here as a batter is always nice because you hit the ball through the field and you get full value for your shots."
Ominously for the home side, Finch hit a then world record T20I score of 156 from 63 deliveries back in 2013, which was the most recent meeting between Australia and England at Southampton's Rose Bowl – scene of the series opener on September 4.
"I don't know what it is," he added, "but I do love it over here."
2020 Tour of England
Australia's T20 and ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
England squad: TBC
August 23: Fly from Perth to UK
Australia will play three T20 and one 50-over intra-squad practice games
September 4: 1st T20, Southampton, 3am AEST Sept 5
September 6: 2nd T20, Southampton, 11pm AEST
September 8: 3rd T20, Southampton, 3am AEST Sept 9
September 11: 1st ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST
September 13: 2nd ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST
September 16: 3rd ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST