Aaron Finch’s Striker Rate is a Talking Point

Aaron Finch’s strike rate the other night in Colombo was head and shoulders above the rest.


In fact, nobody apart from him took lesser balls to score more runs in his innings. But, post-match, the opener rated the Colombo deck the worst he had ever seen in a shorter format game.

According to Finch, for the deck to produce uneven bounce from the same length within the first eight or ten deliveries and then spin from the leg to the off stump and vice versa, it was for sure a low standard deck.

Sri Lanka had a couple of medium pacers and a part time off spinner bowling inside the first 10 and Finch thrived on it smashing the ball to the cow corner regularly to race along to his fifty.

Finch says the spin was always going to take control with the soft ball later. So, boundaries had to come against pace at the start. That’s why, he was after the bowlers straightaway and luckily, he was able to connect all the shots from the meat of the willow.
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Josh Hazlewood not sure about Selection in T20 Squad

In spite of putting in a great effort with the ball versus West Indies yesterday in the practice match, Josh Hazlewood is not sure whether he would find himself in the scheme of things next week when the Kangaroos play their first game in the World Twenty 20 Championship against the Kiwis at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala.


Hazlewood was amongst Australia’s first choice bowlers in the One Day International World Cup at home a year back and he had played both in the semi final as well as in the final, but, because of him being a length bowler and not having that much of pace, the Australian management has been reluctant to back him in the twenty 20 games as with his kind of bowling, he is bound to go for runs at the start and in the death too.

Especially in India, where if Dharamsala and to some extent Mohali is barred, the other venues are not likely to produce swinging conditions, Hazlewood might not make impression with the new ball either which he is known for. (more…)