If Australia don’t advance beyond the group stage in the T20 World Cup neither Aaron Finch nor David Warner will be seen in the 20-over format in international cricket again.
That’s the view of former Test batter Ed Cowan, who’s delivered Australia’s long-time short-form openers a stinging warning as they close in on a first-up match against South Africa on Saturday.
While Cowan noted that Finch and Warner had been of tremendous service to Australia in the shortest format over their careers, the former 18-Test batter pointed out their immense struggles in recent times.
Finch hasn’t averaged 50 or higher in a T20 international series since November 2019 – he’s played in five series since – and he averaged just 13.77 from 13 innings in last summer’s Big Bash League tournament.
Australia’s limited-overs captain also registered just 24 runs from 19 balls in his side’s first T20 World Cup warm-up match.
While Warner has had greater success in T20 international cricket than Finch in recent times, the left-hander was abysmal in this year’s Indian Premier League tournament.
The 34-year-old was dropped from Sunrisers Hyderabad having averaged just 24.73 across eight innings.
Warner was then removed for a first-ball duck in Australia’s first T20 World Cup warm-up game.
“This is the litmus test for Aaron Finch. This is it,” Cowan said on The Grandstand Cricket Podcast.
“If Australia are bundled out in the group stages, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, he’s no longer the T20 captain. He probably won’t play in the format again.
“David Warner probably won’t play in the format again.
“So this is the group to do it and if this group doesn’t do it we’ve got another group coming through. There have been five years since the last (T20) World Cup, this is the cycle, we’re about to find out if this team is any good.”
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The selection panel, now chaired by former Australia T20 captain George Bailey, opted against picking largely untried batters and all-rounders for the World Cup, including Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner and Josh Philippe. Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis is an exception.
The squad is dominated by long-time Australia batters and all-rounders, such as Finch, Warner, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.
“It’s the last roll of the dice for this group of players, because it’s easy when we talk T20 cricket to think, ‘Dave Warner – geez, he’s been a fine player’. And he has. But he hasn’t been at his best in this format for some time,” Cowan said.
“Aaron Finch the same. We cannot overlook the struggles he’s had in this format probably for the last two years.
“So this is the last roll of the dice for these two. The role of the opening partnership in T20 is the partnership. So if they fire, if they find some magic – and it’d be against the run of play – Australia are a chance.
“They have the bowling attack and they have the middle-order explosiveness of Maxwell, Marsh, people that can win a game in 10 balls… If those two can get going and Smith does his thing, we all know how skillful he is, and whether it’s Inglis or Wade – they’re all power players.
“The pieces of the puzzle are there; whether that puzzle comes together, I don’t know.”
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