“Unfortunately, right now, the way he’s batting and what I’ve seen during this IPL, he’s batting nowhere near his best,” Watson, an assistant coach with Delhi Capitals, told the Grade Cricketer. “Whatever is going on, the things he’s working on with his technique and mindset, it’s changed a lot from when he’s been at his best.
“I believe if he’s not scoring runs in the lead up to the T20 World Cup, and it’s along similar lines to what we saw here for KKR, you can’t pick him. At the moment he’s so far out of touch, no matter how good your captaincy skills are, if he continues to bat the way he is, it would be a big liability, especially as an opener.
The latest endorsement of Finch from the Australia set-up came last month when the squads were announced for the tour of Sri Lanka which takes place next month. Australia are also set to have T20I series against New Zealand, India, West Indies and England before their title defence which starts on October 22.
“I think his captaincy is really important, but there’s so much cricket between now and the World Cups that I’m just really confident that Finchy will get back into his groove,” Bailey said. “It’s one of those things, I don’t think you forge a reputation and the record that he has over such a long period of time to not know that there’s a hell of a lot of talent and skill and, as I said, he’s a really important player in that team, let alone the captaincy.”
Watson, who is also president of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, was very firm on his view that Warner should be allowed to captain four years after the incident in Cape Town.
“This is my opinion, and I know it’s a big opinion within Australian cricket in certain parts, he’s served his time,” Watson said. “He was involved in a big mistake but he’s been severely punished in so many ways. The way they hung him out to dry and everything really came back on him, the financial impact that it had on him, and publicly, he’s been absolutely smashed across the board.
“He’s done his time. Everyone makes mistakes. Some are more public than others, some are worse than others, but you are allowed to forgive. I think it’s absurd that he’s not allowed to captain a team, whether it’s a Big Bash team or an Australian team, if he’s the right person at the right time. Think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”