New-look Australia squad could be a World Cup blessing - Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch says that the inexperience in Australia's one-day squad could prove to be a blessing in disguise as they finalise their preparations for next week's first ODI against England at The Oval, and beyond that, next year's World Cup.

Finch made a solid 78 on Thursday night to set up Australia's hard-earned 57-run win against Sussex at Hove, which was also their first outing in national colours since the end of their seismic Test tour of South Africa in April.

The Australia squad was forced to lie low for a few months after returning home from South Africa, as the ball-tampering scandal erupted around them, but Finch said that he could feel an eagerness to get stuck in in the new-look squad, adding that "there's only so many laps of ovals you can run before you start to go crazy".

"There's a lot of excitement around, any time you bring young guys into the squad for their first or second tour, it brings a lot of energy around the group," Finch said. "A lot of the guys have had time off over the last couple of months, the guys who weren't in the IPL, so it's a great chance to get stuck into cricket."

Australia will begin next week's contest as rank outsiders against England's No.1-ranked ODI team, but Finch sees the absence of so many first-choice candidates for next year's World Cup squad as an opportunity for some new faces to stake a claim. In so doing, they may also lift Australia's standards in a format in which they have lost each of their last three bilateral series, against New Zealand, India and England, as well as suffering an early elimination in the Champions Trophy.

"There's a few guys here that it's the first time I've toured with," he added, "and I've been around a little while now. But our one-day cricket hadn't been that great over the last 18 months to two years, so who knows, if we give these young guys a few opportunities, they can do some wonderful things. There are some guys in this squad who are going to be great players."

Finch is Australia's vice-captain on this tour, and will also captain the T20 team in the absence of David Warner, but he didn't envisage a sea-change to the role that he has played for Ausralia since cementing his spot in the limited-overs team five years ago.

"Being vice-captain you lead by example on and off the field, but I think that, being an opening batter, you have the opportunity to set the tone for the team, so that's not much of a change," he said. "But with a young group, there's not a lot of experience, so it's about helping them as much as I can, along with Tim [Paine], Glenn Maxwell and other guys who've been around for a time."

The tour is also Justin Langer's first as Australia coach, and Finch admitted that, while Langer's first press conference had been full of smiles and jokes as he set about reframing the debate over sledging, Finch admitted that the new boss had a steely side that few players would want to encounter.

"When we got to Brisbane for our training camp. it was the first time that JL had had a chance to address us all together," said Finch. "He just laid down what he expected of the Australian cricket team, and how he sees the team going forward. There wasn't anything that you wouldn't expect a new coach to do.

"But you don't want to be in his glare!" Finch added. "I've been there before, not on this tour, but in the past. There were some easy comments you could make to him when he was coach of Western Australia. It was easy to wind him up."

Finch played most of his Australia career to date under the gaze of Darren Lehmann, who resigned from his post on the eve of the Johannesburg Test in March. "They are both great coaches in their own right. We've had a lot of success with [Darren] as an Australian coach, and JL I've no doubt will have a lot of success. With Perth, he's done some wonderful things. And at the end of the day, whoever is coach of the side has the opportunity to mould the culture the way they want it."