Australia skipper Finch backs Agar to become T20 finisher ahead of WC next year

Australia captain Aaron Finch is hopeful Ashton Agar become a flamboyant finisher to give team more options in the batting line-up ahead of T20 World Cup next year.

Agar, who has a mediocre average of under 14 per innings and bowls left arm spin, did not come out to bat in the first T20 against Sri Lanka after the top did the  job.

While Agar is not a full-fledged all-rounder, Finch said the 26-year-old was working hard to get there.

“His batting’s still developing,” Finch told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday ahead of their second T20 against Lanka.

“Something that he’s been working on is becoming that real finisher towards the back end of an innings in T20 and in one-day games. So if he can keep developing that, it’ll give you a lot of options to play that second spinner or go with four quicks, or if there’s another all-rounder that comes in.”

In the series opener against Lanka, swashbuckling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was sent in ahead of number three Steve Smith and smashed 62 off 28 balls to propel Australia to a huge total after David Warner (100 not out) and Finch (64) laid down a strong foundation with a 122-run opening partnership.

Finch took a bold decision of not allowing former skipper Smith a chance to bat in his first full international on home soil since serving a 12-month ball-tampering ban.

Finch said he wanted his batsmen to be ready to play anywhere in the order according to match situations, to make the team more competitive when they host the T20 World Cup.

“I think at all times, you’ll see four or five guys in the sheds with their pads on,” said Finch.

“To be really flexible as a middle order, prepared to go in at any stage, is important to catch teams off guard.

“If you’ve got left and right-hand combinations, there’s a few options there, so it’s a nicely balanced side at the moment.”

With a T20 World Cup still eluding Australia, the board has scheduled a host of matches in order to build a good team of the showpiece event that will be held at the their home soil next year.

Cricket Australia wants to bank on the opportunity of winning the missing silverware to adorn their already overloaded cabinet, which feature almost every other major trophy of the game.

Meanwhile,  Australia senior batsman Maxwell feels the team has turned the corner in T20I cricket in the last one and a half years, and with the World Cup in a year’s time they need to hold on to the form.

“For the last 18 months to two years, I feel like we’ve probably turned a corner and results have massively improved,” Maxwell said.

“I think that’s reflected in the way we’ve actually started looking at T20 cricket. We’ve starting looking at ‘alright, let’s start, instead of picking our one-day side and turning it straight into our T20 side, let’s pick more specialists for this’, which is I think giving guys specialist roles as well, not just roll out the same batting line-up or whatever. Now we’ve actually got specialist roles for T20, which is nice, and I think with that change and mindset, results have changed a little bit for us.

“I think especially guys nutting out their roles and knowing where they fit into the side is a massive thing. Even simple things like fielding positions and where you run to in the field in between overs.  When you get that right, it can all just look like clockwork and everyone knows what they’re doing. All of a sudden, you’ve just got extra time up your sleeve, Finchy (Aaron Finch, the captain) can relax a little bit at the back end, know guys are in the right spot and not have to stress about anything.”

Agencies