MELBOURNE, DEC 23
Finch is adamant to play in the Boxing Day Test after being cleared by Australia’s medical team.
Injured Australia opener Aaron Finch says the only way he can miss out on the home Boxing Day Test against India is, if someone were to “cut off” his finger.
Finch was batting on 25 in Australia’s second innings during the second Test in Perth when he was hit on his right index finger by a Mohammed Shami delivery. The impact of the hit was so serious that bones were literally visible in his finger from a deep cut.
Incidentally, it was the same finger which he had broken earlier and the Australian ODI and T20 captain said the impact was so severe that he felt “it was going to explode”.
“It was a bit of a shock, just the initial pain was the thing that got me. It felt like it was going to explode, which was quite funny. I think just being hit a few times in the last month, a couple times by Starcy (Mitchell Starc) at training then Shami out in the game, but it’s also an old break.
“I broke the same finger in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, so I’ve got to start either catching them or use my bat instead of my gloves. It was up there (as the most painful). I think snapping my hamstring tendon (in April 2015) was probably the most over the last few years,” he said.
But Finch is adamant to play in the Boxing Day Test after being cleared by Australia’s medical team.
“With a Boxing Day Test, being from Victoria (state), it’s going to have to be cut off (not to play),” Finch said.
“It’s going to be a catch and bat today and reassess, but it feels like it’s improved 100 per cent over the last couple of days.
“I got sent some new bats, so I’ve been walking around the lounge room and waving them around. It feels okay,” he added.
Desperate for a big score to cement his place in the top-order of the Australian batting department, Finch said he would continue to review his finger over the next 48 hours even though he is sure of his participation in the match.
“But at this stage, it’s still business as usual and I plan to field at slip and do whatever else is needed,” said the 32-year-old.
Australia opener Marcus Harris has warned against getting carried away by the grass on the MCG pitch, saying the track does offers runs to those who show patience.
Harris cited example of a Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and New South Wales on the same pitch, where he thought the match would be over in “a day and a half” but ended up raising an unbeaten 250.
