Aaron Finch - the bad boy of Victoria
Dirk Nannes introduces his Victoria team-mate, and recent Australia debutant Aaron Finch on his blog
Dustin Silgardo
25-Feb-2013
Dirk Nannes introduces his Victoria team-mate, and recent Australia debutant Aaron Finch on his blog. Nannes' description of Finch is best summed up by this line: Yes, he drinks. Yes, he smokes ... Yes he picks a fight with his quick mouth ... But he’s a damn fine cricketer and will always be one of the first picked in my team.
Australian sport in general has become a bit of a nanny state – no one can have their own point of view, no one can have their own colour, no one can sledge or make comment in the media unless it’s promoting the next ‘big game’ or goodwill cause. My personal highlights of games are when things get nasty on the field, when feelings come into a game. Finch brings that feeling into every game he plays. He puts the fun back into cricket. After all, isn’t that what we play the game for?
Stephen Brenkley, writing in the Independent, says Shaun Marsh's match-winning century against England in the second ODI made a mockery of his omission from Australia's World Cup squad.
Ignored for the Ashes, he seemed a natural choice for the World Cup in the subcontinent not least for his prodigious efforts there in the IPL.
What was particularly extraordinary about his innings last night was the unfamiliarity of his position. Almost all his previous one-day cricket for Australia has been played as an opening batsman where the rhythms are much different.
Dustin Silgardo is a former sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo