Aaron Finch under fire as cricket fans turn on Aussie captain

Australian captain Aaron Finch is facing [ressure to keep his spot in the ODI team after another failure with the bat against Zimbabwe. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Australia might have dominated Zimbabwe in the second of three ODIs against the African nation, but it hasn’t eased any pressure on captain Aaron Finch.

Indeed, the pressure has only increased on the one-day skipper after he was caught out for just one run as Australia chased down a simple target of 96 for an eight-wicket victory in Townsville.

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Mitchell Starc will have to wait at least one more match to become the fastest player in ODI history to reach 200 wickets taken, after a dropped catch from Glenn Maxwell cost him the milestone in Wednesday’s match.

It was an otherwise regulation performance from Australia playing at home against a lesser opponent, with Starc’s 3-24 from just eight overs putting a serious dent in Zimbabwe’s hopes of setting a competitive total to defend.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa also claimed three wickets, while all-rounder Cameron Green picked up 2-7.

Finch wasn’t alone in registering a disappointing innings on Wednesday, with fellow opener David Warner also dismissed cheaply for 13.

Steve Smith and Alex Carey came in to mop up the rest, with the former Test captain leading the way with an unbeaten 47, while Carey added 26.

It was Finch though, who bore the brunt of criticism from cricket fans after failing to fire in what could have been a prime opportunity to score some runs against an inferior bowling attack.

With the Cricket World Cup approaching in October, many felt Finch’s performances over the past 12 months haven’t been good enough for the 35-year-old to retain his place.

Zimbabwe lost those three wickets for only one run off 20 deliveries leaving them in all sorts of strife, and it got even worse when dangerman Sikandar Raza fell for 17.

Josh Hazlewood (1-16) had two maidens in his first three overs and bagged Raza’s crucial wicket after Marcus Stoinis took a comfortable catch on the boundary.

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Raza, along with Zimbabwe’s top order struggled to get any momentum at the crease as Australia’s pacemen bowled at the stumps to leave the run rate hovering around two and a half an over.

The visitors’ final five wickets fell for 36 runs with the returning Sean Williams top-scoring with 29.

In the only change since Sunday’s opening ODI – a five-wicket win by Australia – Ashton Agar replaced Mitch Marsh in the home side’s XI after Marsh returned to Perth to nurse ankle soreness.

Marsh will miss the three ODIs against New Zealand in Cairns to follow this series, but is expected to rejoin the squad ahead of T20s against India next month.

Zimbabwe made one change to their line-up, with fast bowler Victor Nyauchi dropping out and replaced by Williams.

Cricket officials insist there is still a future in the men’s one-day game in Australia, despite close to a 50 per cent reduction in home international fixtures scheduled in the format over the next four years.

The ICC’s future tours program for the next four-year cycle saw an overall increase in men’s ODIs worldwide when released on Wednesday, up 17 per cent.

But there will be far less of those games in Australia.

Mitchell Starc dominated Zimbabwe’s batting lineup for three cheap top-order wickets in Townsville. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Australia are poised to host just 15 matches between the 2023-24 summer and 2026-27, significantly down on the 27 scheduled in the four summers before COVID-19 took hold and prompted cancellations.

The move comes as a focus on the workload of cricketers worldwide remains in the spotlight, following Ben Stokes’ retirement from ODI action last month.

There are also question marks over the length of the domestic 50-over tournament going forward, an issue likely to be discussed in the next pay talks.

But Cricket Australia (CA) insist the move away from the traditional one-day game is not deliberately aimed at workloads.

Instead, it is a result of the scrapping of the ICC ODI Super League, giving more power to nations to determine their white-ball fixtures and opponents.

Likewise the move to keep January free for the Big Bash League has also contributed to the drop, with CA eager to keep their white-ball stars free to play in the tournament.

With AAP

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