Australia team contingent has landed in St Lucia for the five-match T20I series against West Indies and captain Aaron Finch, who will be leading a new-look squad has said that the first priority is to win all the matches on the tour to build momentum for T20 World Cup 2021.
Australia is missing 7-8 first-choice players including the likes of David Warner, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson amongst others who have opted out of the tours of West Indies and Bangladesh, while Steve Smith was not picked due to his elbow injury.
“We’re obviously wanting to win every game that we play, every series that we play, so that’s first and foremost our absolute priority. If there’s a chance to gather some information along the way, and maybe guys getting more of an opportunity, then we’ll take it as it comes,” Finch told the press upon arrival in Saint Lucia.
The T20 World Cup is the only trophy remaining in Australia’s silverware cabinet, with the 2010 final loss being their best finish.
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Finch's Australian team in the format has usually comprised of six specialist batters and five bowlers, though the skipper admits the nature of the Saint Lucia surface and the absence of all-rounder Glenn Maxwell have forced him to experiment with his tactics.
Finch said, “That was a model that had worked very well for us (in Australia). It worked well for us in South Africa as well, having six batters and five specialist bowlers and not deviating. I think the only time is when Maxy’s chipped in with a couple of overs when the conditions and the match-ups have suited.
I think in conditions like this (in Saint Lucia) where we expect the wickets to be a bit slower, and again playing five games at the same venue, we expect that they’ll start turning a little bit more. We’ve seen that already in the South Africa/West Indies series.”
Finch believes the preparation both in the Caribbean and on their Bangladesh tour in August will be crucial for their major tournament aspirations. Australia is carrying a contingent of 20 players for both tours.
“It’s a chance to tinker with that and give ourselves some more options up our sleeve when we’re planning the T20 World Cup squad and looking forward a little bit to that, just trying to get more information and not being hamstrung I guess by just playing one style of cricket the whole time,” the Aussie captain said.
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On the World Cup moving to UAE and Oman, Finch believes most of their original plans of playing in India should transform well in the new conditions.
“Having played there (UAE) quite a bit over the last four or five years I think that we’ll be okay in terms of how our plan has gone, compared to if it was in India. We expect the wickets to be pretty similar. (There will be a) Little bit of turn, and probably turning more and slowing up as the tournament goes on,” Finch confidently said.
“The (T20 World Cup) It’s the one bit of silverware that’s eluded us in our time and anyone who is available and is selected, there’ll be no management for Test cricket,” he signed off.
(ICC inputs)
