ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

November 10, 2021

Aaron Finch

Dubai International Stadium

Australia

Semi Final Pre Match Media Conference

Q. I just wanted to ask, Pakistan has been able to get quick victories in each of their games, so do you think you and Warner would hold up against Shaheen Afridi's spell and that would be the x-factor in the match?

AARON FINCH: I think what we've seen over the course of the tournament is how important the powerplay is for batting and bowling. I think the stats around the middle overs and the death overs are pretty similar throughout, but the powerplay definitely holds the key. Shaheen has been in really good form for Pakistan. Yeah, so that's going to be a crucial battle no doubt.

Q. How important do you think the toss has been in this World Cup and do you think losing the toss is a big disadvantage?

AARON FINCH: I think when it comes to finals it doesn't make too much of a difference to be honest. I believe getting runs on the board, especially in a final, can be really beneficial. We've talked about it. We're confident that we can win if we happen to bat first or second.

Q. Pakistan is doing very well in this World Cup, but as for the previous records of the ICC knockout round, competition between these two times, Australia has the edge. Do you think that is removed now and Pakistan is in a better position, and how do you see this competition with Pakistan? Secondly, do you think the spinners of Pakistan are better than Australia?

AARON FINCH: Well, I think that obviously Pakistan have been in really good form. They're 5-0 in this tournament. They've played some really good cricket throughout. I don't think you can read too much into the history. Honestly they're two different teams to what have played in the past, so you don't look too deeply into that.

In terms of the Pakistan spin, they've had some really good success obviously with Imad bowling in the powerplay predominantly and then Shadab throughout the middle overs they've been excellent. We've been really happy with how Adam Zampa has been going. He's bowled brilliantly throughout this tournament. He's taken big wickets at crucial times. He gets good players out. Maxwell has chipped in and done really well for the overs that he's bowled.

Yeah, that's just a part of what's going to come down to a really close battle, no doubt.

Q. What do you think if there is the total of the match is 160, 170? Is it good competition between both the teams, or should be a less scoring match?

AARON FINCH: I'm not sure. We haven't seen the wicket yet, so it's hard to comment on that.

Q. Maxy hinted that you'll probably keep going with the three-pronged pace attack. On the subject of pitches, are you surprised with what those three quicks have managed to get out of the pitches in the UAE, and as a result thereof will you maintain basically the same 11?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, we'll sit down and discuss the 11 this afternoon. There's no secret our quicks have done a really good job, and I think having wickets that have been used quite a bit throughout the IPL and now this tournament, I've been really surprised how well they've played. They've done a magnificent job to keep the conditions really fair, and I suppose excellent across all three venues for the Super 12s.

I think, yeah, that's been brilliant.

With the new ball, Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood have been fantastic. I think you can look at stats and you can deep dive into whether you should be bowling spin or quicks in the powerplay. Sometimes it just comes down to executing your best ball on the day over and over. For us that's been Starc and Hazlewood first couple of overs generally and Cummo coming in on the back of that. We've been really happy with how they've executed and kept pressure on oppositions.

They're a world-class trio of quick bowlers and we've got Kane Richardson there, as well, who's arguably one of the best T20 bowlers in the world who hasn't featured just yet, but yeah, we're really happy with how that's gone.

Q. Will you sit down as a group and watch England v New Zealand?

AARON FINCH: I'm not sure we'll do it as a group. I think guys are pretty free to do their own thing. No doubt everyone will have an eye on it, whether it's here in the team room or individually. Yeah, it's always exciting when you get to knockout stages of any tournament.

Q. It's not often that Australia would be, I guess, classified as an underdog going into a cricket game, but do you maybe feel you are, considering Pakistan is undefeated and the way both teams came into this tournament?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, Pakistan have played brilliant cricket. I think the way that they've gone in the powerplay with the bat and ball has been really crucial to their success. I think in this format of the game, if you look over the last few series, everyone had written us off by now, so yeah, you can read into that what you like.

Q. When you do sit down to discuss that team, will there be the temptation, I suppose, to maybe recall Agar just given the amount of right-handers Pakistan has, or is that not really a consideration?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, we consider everything. We literally throw up all possible combinations of teams and match that up against Pakistan, match that up against how we want to play, as well. I think that's really important to keep in mind that it's not purely just based on what the opposition looks like, it's also about how we want to structure up our 20 overs with the ball. So yeah, everyone will be thrown into the ring, Agar, Kane Richardson, Josh Inglis, Mitch Swepson, as well. Look, it's not just about going in there and looking at stats and saying, oh, this should be the 11. It's about structuring up how we want to use our resources, as well.

It'll all be thrown up, no doubt.

Q. Just a bigger picture one, I guess some might say it might be the biggest T20 game of a lot of you guys' careers and it's a pretty experienced group across all formats. The general feeling in the team room, is this kind of the best T20 side you've led, given everyone is available and everything like that?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, it's a really good side, no doubt. We've got a lot of experience. Not so much as a team but individually we've got a lot of experience in other formats. We've played a lot of cricket together. But not so much in this T20 format. Yeah, it's a really exciting group. We feel as though we've got a lot of bases covered with the bat. We've got guys that can go big, we've got guys with power, we've got great spin options, all-round options, quicks. I love the makeup of the squad. It just comes down to the day, doesn't it, and that's what you're judged on at the end of the day.

Q. As captain, how happy are you to see David coming out of a bad moment? It was difficult for him in the IPL, runs had dried up. Now this tournament we've seen his sort of resurrection. As far as his mental space is concerned and from a captain's perspective, how happy are you to see him coming back to the groove?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, I was never worried one bit about Dave's form. He's one of the all-time great batsmen of our era. I think you can look at it as though he had a really lean IPL and then the start of this tournament, but the two halves of the IPL were a long way apart, so if you miss out a couple of times at the end of the first part, which was in India, and then the first couple of games in Dubai, it looks as though a run of form is a pattern there, but I certainly wasn't worried. He's all class; he's trained hard; he's mentally fresh; he's ready to go.

It's great to see the best of him fit and firing. As we all know, it's a great sight when he's up and about and scoring runs for Australia.

Q. Before you said you made a little tricky reference to people sort of writing you off. I know at the time the last couple of weeks you said probably the outside noise doesn't really get in, but now that maybe you've exceeded some expectations, do you feel like you have proved the people wrong, and was that maybe a bit of a motivating factor at the start of the tournament and in your form turnaround?

AARON FINCH: No, we didn't speak about it at all to be honest. It's just one of those things that in the lead-up to the tournament you tend to hear things or see the odd quote or comment that people have written you off. It's interesting how the narrative can change really quick. About 10 days ago our team was too old and now we're an experienced team. That's just how it all gets portrayed. From day one I've had a real lot of confidence in the way that we've gone about this with the squad that we've got. I don't think that we've exceeded our expectations whatsoever. We came here with a really clear plan to win this tournament, and we're still alive to do that.

Q. Quickly if I can, you've been around obviously the white ball setup for so long. Is it time the coaching roles or the support roles are split up in terms of -- not talking about anyone individually in terms of Justin Langer, but do you need someone as a T20 coach who heads it up and then that person can take care of that alone, or do you think it's too big a job for one person now?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, I'm not too sure. I think it probably depends on what the head coach wants at the end of the day, because over the next couple of years with a lot of tours to be made up and a lot of games that need to be fitted back into the future tours program with the ones that were missed in the heart of COVID there, I think there will probably be a little bit of a crossover of formats again like we saw what was planned with the South Africa and New Zealand series.

I think that down the track that that's something -- if they keep crossing over that that'll have to be thought out, but as it stands at the moment, I think it's going okay. There might be some questions once those tours start to become really condensed and back up with each other, that support staff, players, coaches, team managers, physios, everyone will need a bit of a chop-out, and to be able to get out of these bubbles that we're in at the moment. I think just over the next two or three months that'll probably be a little bit clearer.

Q. Just a question about -- I suppose your own time as captain, the fact that it's a World Cup semifinal, a chance to vie for a trophy. There's obviously a World Cup in Australia next year. How big does this loom in, I suppose, what you've wanted to achieve as a leader?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, I'm really happy with how it's all built up. I think one thing I'm really proud of is how we've started to uncover a little bit more depth in T20 cricket in Australia, and that's probably come on the back of, like I said, that tour to New Zealand in particular that was going to cross over with the South African Test. Some guys who mightn't have got an opportunity in the past if everyone was available, they got a good opportunity to test themselves in international cricket.

So I think that holds us in good stead down the track. Then we go to the West Indies and Bangladesh with some guys who rested from that series which then gave a little bit more opportunity to some guys, as well.

I think in the long run, over the next two or three years, this period of Australian cricket will help us uncover more talent and more depth, especially in the white ball format. That's something I'm really proud of.

Although the results previous to this World Cup hadn't gone our way a huge amount, there was so much learning that we got out of that.

Q. Obviously there was that sort of issue against England where you lost early wickets, you had Maxy come in quite early against a new ball. Has your thinking developed any further there whereby say if you're three down he comes in after the powerplay regardless, or are you thinking the same way?

AARON FINCH: No, well, that was the plan from the start of the tournament to be honest. The only change with the England game is that we went in with six specialist batters instead of the seven which we've used in the other four games. But that left us with a decision to make whether Maxy went in in the powerplay or we held him back. We felt as though for us to win that game, you've got to throw all your aces up front when you've only got six batters.

It didn't work that day, but that's okay, we've learnt our lesson from that and we're still here in the semifinal to push on.

Q. Just to clarify that, so if you play seven batters he would be held back until over seven plus?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, generally. I think that's a pretty common theme with Maxy's role in our team and other teams he's played, and he's someone who plays spin really well through the middle. He can be really dominant with five fielders out from ball one, which is an amazing skill. Yeah, that's obviously what we've done in the previous parts of this tournament.

Q. Big picture how would you describe the enormity of winning this tournament I suppose in the context of Australia having never won it but also what's happened in the past 18 months? The players were quite well set Feb 2020 and COVID has disrupted the host country, the date, the lead-up series, the rankings side and all that?

AARON FINCH: Oh, not too fussed with the ranking slide to be honest. Like I said, we've played a lot of overseas tours. We've learned a lot out of them tours, as well, which has been a really important part of the growth of not just this team but the depth of T20 cricket in particular in Australia.

Yeah, it would mean a lot to win it, but we've still got a semifinal to focus on first, and coming up against a very, very good and informed Pakistan, so it'll be a great challenge. I think that'll really test us to see where we are in the world.

Q. You talked a bit earlier about Adam Zampa. Do you get the sense he's gone to another level at this World Cup? Everyone has seen what he's done the last few years, but to perform the way he has often as the sole frontline spinner at a big tournament, what's stood out from your perspective, and did you get a sense maybe that some teams had even underrated him at the start of the tournament?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, I don't think that anyone has underrated him. He's been a wonderful bowler for a few years now in the white ball formats for Australia. He's someone who loves the competitiveness or loves the fight. Being a spinner, you obviously cop some tap at times, but his attitude along with Ash Agar, Mitch Swepson, they've been working really closely, Maxy, as well. They work so closely, they're a tight-knit group that they're continually learning from each other. I think Zamps' biggest strength over his career is that he's been able to get good players out on good wickets consistently, and that's a great skill to have.

Yeah, he hasn't surprised any of us one bit. We've seen how good he is, but it just comes down to him being a really good bowler. There's nothing more to it than that. His confidence is high at the moment, and bowling nicely.

Q. My question for you is in T20 cricket we talk a lot about momentum, and Australia has gained some momentum after losing to England, so in your opinion how important is the momentum against a Pakistan team which has won all of its matches in the group stage and also Marsh on how crucial he has been for you guys at No. 3?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, I don't think that momentum is something that really goes over -- in a tournament like this, I don't think it carries over a huge amount because you're playing a totally different opposition, different conditions. It's going to be a different wicket again. I don't think you can read too much into anything like that.

One thing that -- all you can control is your process and your planning, and we've been doing that really well. We've got confidence in that. Like I've said before, Pakistan are playing really good cricket, so it'll be a great test.

And in terms of Mitchell Marsh, he's been excellent for us. His ability to bat at No. 3 and be really aggressive and take the game on has been really pleasing. The overs that he bowled the other day against a really dominating West Indies batting lineup were really crucial in dragging that score down to 160. He's someone who works hard on his bowling, and yeah, he's a huge asset for our team.

Q. Do you think going into a semifinal it's any advantage that you guys have been playing must-win cricket for the last two group games?

AARON FINCH: Oh, I don't think it makes too much difference to be honest. In a tournament with the format thing, straight to semifinals and a final, you know that you're on the tightrope from day one, and that first game against South Africa could have gone either way. We got over the line there in a really close one. We've played some really good cricket towards the back end after that England game.

I don't think it makes too much difference, to be honest. Pakistan have been excellent, particularly in like the start of this tournament, to build their bank, so to speak. Yeah, not too much.

Q. I don't know if you're aware, but you're 25 runs away from 10,000 in T20. I know winning is your focus this week, but on a personal level, longevity, consistency in this format, is that something that leaves you quite proud?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, I didn't know that. That's nice. Be nice to tick it off. But yeah, I don't really play for personal stuff to be honest. That's a side piece.

My greatest memories are going to be winning tournaments, winning a World Cup for Australia. It's not about getting a hundred or doing something special individually. I would rather get a duck and win than a hundred and lose. Them personal things don't play on my mind one bit. Yeah, it's just purely down to business of trying to win this first game against Pakistan.

Q. Just wondering about Matthew Hayden. What's it like to know that you're going to come up against a fellow Aussie on that side, and have you seen him around at all or do you sort of stick to your own camp there?

AARON FINCH: We saw him around yesterday actually. I think Pakistan moved into the hotel yesterday. Yeah, saw him around. I think it's great to see the greats of Australian cricket crossing over into other countries and helping out as much as they can. I think we've got a rich history of great players helping our countries in terms of franchise cricket. So yeah, that's brilliant.

Q. When you select the squad, your 11 for the T20, will you go according to the man-to-man marking or the forms of the players?

AARON FINCH: No, we structured -- either way. We obviously look at the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses and what resources we have got to match up against that, but we also have to look at what we do really well and stay true to that. I think if we get seduced into looking purely only at matchups, then you probably go away from your own strengths quite a bit.

Yeah, it's a bit of give and take. You take all the information in and make a judgment call there, but yeah, you've got to look after your own backyard first.

Q. Just to pick up on talking about the balance of the side, which I guess has been a theme throughout, just maybe compare this to previous T20 World Cups when Shane Watson has always been in the side. Can you talk about the challenge of those decisions around balance for you as captain, especially without someone who's maybe quite as much of a genuine allrounder in the way Watson was at his peak?

AARON FINCH: Yeah, that can be a tough balancing act. I think the fact that we've got the three allrounders in Maxwell, Marsh and Stoinis, to bowl them four overs has been really beneficial for us. We know how good Maxy can be in the powerplay but also through the middle overs when the matchups are right. That's given us a lot of confidence to be able to go in with the four specialist bowlers plus the allrounder.

That's probably something that we've wrestled with in the past. Mitch Marsh's bowling has been excellent over the past couple of series and against West Indies the other day. I don't think Stoin has bowled yet in this tournament, but he's had some really good success, particularly toward the back end of the innings, as well.

Yeah, it obviously makes it a really tough decision, but having them allrounders there, especially ones who offer so much flexibility to the side with Mitch batting at 3, Maxy can be that floater anywhere from sort of No. 3 down to No. 5 or 6 and Stoin with his real power game towards the middle and back-end overs, it does give us a lot of flexibility with the selection.