Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch said he wants to have another ‘good crack’ at Test cricket, a format which he played briefly last summer.
Finch was picked in the Australian Test side against Pakistan in UAE last year after Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith were suspended for ball tampering.
Finch played five Tests scoring 278 runs at an average of 27.8 with two half-centuries before being axed.
“For me personally, it’s about probably having one really good crack at trying to get back to the Test team again,” Finch told SEN radio station. “The young guys who came in and did well throughout the back half of last summer did a really good job. I still think that I’ve got one really good crack at it left in me.”
Finch said he aimed to play Sheffield Shield games for Victoria, and took inspiration from Matthew Wade who made a successful comeback to Test cricket in the Ashes.
“Obviously just try and get some runs, get some big runs there. That’s my plan. I think, the young kids who have come in a taken their opportunities, Kurtis Patterson and Travis Head, these guys have come in and done reasonably well when they’ve played,” he said.
“Kurtis got a hundred in the last Test that he played. Will Pucovski and that whole crop of young batters who are coming through are so talented, so I think I’ve got one more push in it for myself. If it doesn’t happen then it doesn’t happen. I’m comfortable with that. It will be nice to play a few Shield games in a row to be fair. It’s been a while since I’ve played more than one in a row.”
Finch will have to figure out his batting position in the longer format of the game. He played the five Tests as an opener, although he usually bats in the middle order for Victoria.
“We haven’t spoken about that just yet,” Finch said. “There’s a lot of quality players in Victoria at the moment so getting a game might be the first start. I think middle order will probably be my preferred spot. I know doing the opening duties last summer was one of first times I’d really done it in the longer format but you take any opportunity you can when you play for Australia.”
