Finch batting from memory

If it has only been three matches since Aaron Finch made a compelling century against England in the World Cup opener at the MCG, it has also been three weeks.

Australia's disjointed schedule since that afternoon, made worse by a washout against Bangladesh at the Gabba, has robbed numerous players of momentum, none more so than Finch. By the time he walked out to bat with David Warner against New Zealand in Auckland, it had been 14 days since he raised his bat to a raucous home crowd.

What followed was a dicey innings against Tim Southee and Trent Boult that ended with a loose drive at the swinging ball and an off stump plucked out. The hesitation caused by that dismissal was evident in Perth, when he was out nicking an away swinger from the medium pace of Dawlat Zadran at the WACA Ground.

Despite Dawlat's relative lack of speed, Finch was on the move when he pushed at the ball and the edge left him plenty of time to ponder where his touch had gone. Watching Warner, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell make merry cannot have helped, and now Finch is in search of runs at the SCG against Sri Lanka, a match that has become more pivotal to Australia's campaign than anyone had expected.

"You're nervous every game regardless of whether you come off runs or not," Finch said. "But I feel like I'm playing well. A poor decision in New Zealand and then a half-decent ball, average, nothing kind of shot in Perth, so there's a few things to work on. But at the same time I'm still confident with the way I'm hitting the ball, I'm batting well in the nets and training as well as I possibly can so I think it's only a matter of time before I get runs again.

"To get a hundred against an attack like England was quality, and that gives you a lot of confidence. In a game like New Zealand where everyone missed out, it was a bit of a strange one between poor shot selection and poor intent, the wrong intent at the wrong times, that's a mixture of everything. I still feel that I'm batting well so there's two small changes to make and it should all come together."

Helping Finch and the others is after the elongated beginning, Australia's schedule has returned to the sort of tight squeeze that passes for normal on the international cricket calendar. While time zone changes from Brisbane to Auckland to Perth and finally Sydney have been jarring, the pattern of travel, train for one or two days and then play is much more conducive for rhythm to develop.

"I think that's important as a batsman especially, when you're in good form to play consistently is invaluable," Finch said. "When you play and then have a long break, you spend so much time training you almost forget how it felt in the middle and you have to go through all the process again of when to peak at the right time.

"But when you have that time, then any changes you need to make in your game you've got plenty of time to do it, and that's one of the real positives to come of it. Although we lost a lot of momentum going into the New Zealand game, and it felt like a huge build-up going into the first game of the tournament again it wasn't a bad thing.

"I think we'll be okay going forward and getting this little break now - we've played three times in a week after this game so that will be good for everyone to have plenty of hits in the middle and really make sure we're peaking at the right time of the tournament."

As per the advice of his national coach Darren Lehmann, Finch has reasoned that the team galloped ahead of their own scoreboard at Eden Park, and found a much more sensible way of building an innings against the admittedly lesser opposition provided by Afghanistan. Sydney and Sri Lanka are a test of whether the adjustments made for Perth can stick.

"It was just a game that didn't go well for us," Finch said. "Like Michael Clarke said we were too eager to play too many shots and probably got seduced into the short boundary instead of planning our innings. We're playing great cricket though, it's only the second game we've lost in a long time [after South Africa in Perth in November].

"Definitely no panic stations, it means that this game on Sunday is very important for us, but the way we've played over the last 12 months I think there's no reason we shouldn't take a lot of confidence from this going forward. Michael, who hasn't had a hit really to know if he's in good nick, but he's a class player and the benefit of that is he picks up the game quicker than most, so him not batting in Perth, I don't think will be an issue at all."

For Finch, the qualities and contrasts of Sri Lanka's bowlers will pose another challenge. Australia expect to be facing Nuwan Kulasekara even if his recent form is not great, for they can all too readily recall the swathe he cut through their batsmen with in-duckers at the Gabba in early 2013.

"When you've got guys like Suranga Lakmal and [Nuwan] Kulasekara who can swing the ball, that's a big asset to have, guys who move the ball are more dangerous," Finch said, perhaps mindful of his reputation as a nicker. "[Lasith] Malinga has got all the tricks, great yorker, slower ball, bouncer, he can swing it as well, so as a whole their attack is pretty balanced.

"Having [Rangana] Herath out is going to be a loss to them, but I think all their bowlers are so different so it's going to be how you're traveling on the day and who you face up well against. Different players match up well against different bowlers and it's something you've got to size up game by game."

At least those games are coming more frequently now.