Finch responds after 'relief' of the axe

A rejuvenated Aaron Finch has continued his run-scoring spree with a second successive hundred against England in the second Gillette ODI at the Gabba.

Finch became the fastest Australian to reach 10 ODI hundreds (and the fifth-fastest overall) with a typically powerful 107, fresh from making 106 five days ago in the series opener in Melbourne.

Only a year ago, the Victorian was dropped from Australia's ODI side for their home series against Pakistan, only to be recalled for the tour of New Zealand that followed when David Warner was rested ahead of the India Test series.

Incredibly, Finch was then elevated to the captaincy when Matthew Wade – who had been handed the job in the absence of Warner and regular captain Steve Smith, who was injured – hurt his back on the morning of the first match and could take no part in the series.

Since that tour, Finch has piled on 618 runs at 61.80, including three hundreds from his past six innings.

"People say when you get dropped it's really difficult, but it actually wasn't," Finch told cricket.com.au last month as he reflected on that tumultuous period.

"It was actually a bit of a relief; I hadn't been playing well in the lead-up to that, probably for 12 months leading up to that, I'd been playing poorly ... I just felt as if I wasn't right to be playing.

"When I got the call from (selector) Trevor Hohns, it was actually a bit of a relief.

"I thought, 'Now I can actually focus on playing Big Bash rather than worrying about selection, worrying about if I get picked, how would I go.

"It was actually really good to just free up and just play normally. Usually when you get dropped you you want to be able to fire off some questions to the chairman of selectors, but I actually said, 'I would have done the same thing'. Which I think caught him more off guard than anything else."

Finch has fended off competition for his place at the top of the order alongside Warner, with Travis Head, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh all spending time in the opening slot over the past two years.

In Melbourne, he reached 3000 ODI runs and his Brisbane effort made him just the third player after Ricky Ponting and Mahela Jayawardena to score five ODI hundreds against England.

The 31-year-old has now played more limited-overs cricket for Australia without having played a Test match than anyone, and despite averaging 44.05 across the past two Sheffield Shield seasons, the Baggy Green could remain elusive for some time yet.

A likelihood not lost on Finch, who pointed out a flaw in his long-form game.

"I just don't seem to make many hundreds," he said. "I make a lot of fifties, and not many hundreds, so I've only got myself to blame.

"But (the desire is) still burning there. I think when the day comes that I don't think I can play Test cricket for Australia, I won't play four-day cricket anymore."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Gillette ODI Series v England

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Cameron White, Adam Zampa.

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

First ODI England won by five wickets at the MCG.

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final TBC, Eden Park, February 21