George Bailey backs Aaron Finch: The National Selector has thrown weight behind the out-of-form Australian captain.
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Former Australia captain and current National Selector George Bailey considers “spending five months in biosecurity bubbles” as a major reason behind Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch’s dismal returns in the recently concluded 10th season of the Big Bash League.
Leading Melbourne Renegades, Finch finished the season as their fourth-highest run-scorer scoring 179 runs in 13 innings at an average and strike rate of 13.76 and 113.29 respectively.
Finch, who had toured England and played in the Indian Premier League before taking part in BBL 10, witnessed his team at the bottom of the points table with four victories in 14 matches.
ALSO WATCH: Aaron Finch’s unfortunate run-out off Jason Behrendorff in BBL 10
“He was pretty zonked. But he tried to do the right thing and get back to help a young [Melbourne] Renegades side. His reflection on that was that he probably should’ve sat longer out and come back a bit fresher,” Bailey was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
George Bailey backs Aaron Finch as Australian captain for ICC T20 World Cup
Since cricket has resumed post the COVID-19 break, Finch has scored 620 runs in 32 T20s at 19.38 and 116.10 respectively. A premier opening batsman that he is, Finch’s paltry numbers have it in them to cause concerns among Australian fans and former cricketers.
With a couple of ICC T20 World Cups set to be played in the near future, doubts have already started to erupt with respect to Finch’s position in the Australian T20I XI.
You can’t keep Devon Conway out of the game!
A solid grab to remove Aaron Finch for 1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/7Y23VQ5jR4
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) February 22, 2021
Bailey, who is in New Zealand as a travelling selector for the ongoing Australia’s tour of New Zealand, has backed Finch as the Australian captain to the fullest ahead of a couple of ICC events.
“He’s got a terrific average, he’s the captain of this side and he’ll be the captain of this side at the World Cup. It’s just complete white noise for me,” Bailey said.
