Conditions in West Indies will be very similar to what we get in World T20, asserts Aaron Finch
Finch speaks ahead of the West Indies tour
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Australian skipper Aaron Finch has outlined that the conditions in West Indies will be very similar to what Australia gets in the upcoming T20 World Cup. He also added that there will be a lot of changes in the make-up of the squad that was earlier envisaged by the selectors and the management.
Australia, who last played a series against New Zealand in March, are set to lock horns with West Indies. They will be leaving for the Caribbean on June 28 where they play five T20Is and three ODIs starting from July 10 with the shortest format marking Australia's international return. Given West Indies possess slow surfaces, it can immensely help in Australia's preparation for the T20 World Cup that is set to take place in the Middle East later this year.
There are a plethora of absentees from the tour in form of David Warner, Pat Cummins, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson and Jhye Richardson. But that will provide other players with an opportunity to stake their claim for a spot in the side. Australian skipper Aaron Finch admitted that the conditions in West Indies will be pretty similar to what teams would get in either India or UAE.
"You have to go on current form. These conditions will be very similar to what we face in the T20 World Cup I imagine - especially St Lucia being used quite a lot and then Bangladesh being quite similar to India or UAE, wherever that lands," said Finch, stated ESPNCricinfo.
He further added that there can be a lot of changes to the side that was being built up keeping the Australian conditions in mind.
"It could change a lot. That was based on the World Cup being in Australia and I thought our side in the lead-up to the original World Cup meant to be held here was really settled. You have to look to keep restructuring your side to gather more information. The more the wickets change and the more they go away from our traditional Australian wickets think the more we have to keep learning."
The tour will provide golden opportunities for players like Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner and Dan Christian, who returned to the side. The squad also includes pace bowler Wes Agar, who earned his maiden call-up. Finch remarked that it would be hard to overlook good performances from the players present in the squad.
"Playing cricket for Australia and doing well is the ultimate, in my opinion. So for guys to be on this tour to get the first opportunity to put their hand up and take that spot is what it's about. It's tough to ignore really good international performances," he said.
Finch, who had undergone surgery on his left eye after the tour of New Zealand, further asserted that he's seeing the ball pretty well now though how he shapes up in night games will be crucial.
"I'm seeing them pretty good. I've only been hitting indoors on hard wickets, so think the big test will come in night matches, that's when I noticed the biggest difference in my eyesight.
"It was just bloody blurry which isn't ideal as a batsman. One day it just sort of changed and got a little bit worse. It wasn't very sharp and there was bit of a halo around lights and a bit of a trail on the ball, so just a bit unusual. After New Zealand, we thought that was the best time to get it done. Was about a three-week process and it was really smooth. It's all clear now, so seems really good."
