Australia's captain and long-time opening batter Aaron Finch looks set to continue in his new role as a middle-over hitter ahead of their T20 World Cup defence
Finch at five on cards amid mass changes for fourth T20
Aaron Finch could bat as low as five as Australia continue to tinker with their T20 strategy, which will be tweaked again for the final two international matches of the home summer due to the absence of their star all-format fast bowlers.
The T20 world champions will be without Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc for their two Dettol T20Is against Sri Lanka at the MCG, the venue they hope they will return to in eight months' time for the final of this year's T20 World Cup,
The trio have returned home to Sydney to freshen up ahead of the Test squad's departure for Pakistan later this month, with Jhye Richardson (yet to play in this series), Daniel Sams and Kane Richardson to shoulder the pace load in their stead.
"Between Starc and Cummins, they’ve had a huge workload on the back of a World Cup and a five-Test match Ashes series," Finch told reporters today.
"Josh is coming back off a bit of an injury and with all of them going to Pakistan we felt as though that was really important for them to be able to stay at home and be out of a bubble for a day or two.
"That was a no brainer."
Adam Zampa will return to the side after being managed for the third T20 in Canberra and could reunite with Ashton Agar to form a two-pronged spin attack.
Travis Head, who has joined the squad after playing in the Sheffield Shield last week, and Moises Henriques are also in the mix with Steve Smith sidelined due to concussion.
Finch will stay at the No.3 spot for Friday's fourth T20I and said he's willing to slide down further for the series finale on Sunday or even in on upcoming tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It means Agar could be given another run at opening the batting on Friday alongside Ben McDermott, with David Warner missing this series.
Aaron Finch's T20 career by batting position
Domestic and international cricket combined
Opening: Innings 284 | Runs 9,221 | Avg 35.33 | SR 140.95
No.3: Innings 11 | Runs 211 | Avg 19.18 | SR 122.67
No.4: Innings 16 | Runs 267 | Avg 17.80 | SR 123.04
No.5: Innings 20 | Runs 519 | Avg 39.92 | SR 147.03
No.6 or 7: Innings 5 | Runs 148 | Avg 37.00 | SR 151.02
"I'm pretty flexible with where I can bat in the order," said Finch. "Potentially five in the next couple of games, but the coach (Andrew McDonald) isn't too excited about that prospect.
"It's just something that we'll talk through when we sit down and discuss what we what we want going forward out of the next couple of games.
"We'll throw up all those kind of options.
"There's a lot of talk about (strategy) behind the scenes between myself and the coaching staff.
"You're never set on anything just yet – we're still keeping our options open and that's why we're also trying to find out as much information about players as we can.
"We're just trying to create as many opportunities and create as much information for ourselves as we can."
The eventual return of Mitch Marsh, rested for this series, to the first-drop spot he made his own at last year's World Cup means whoever bats at three in the interim is essentially a placeholder.
Finch did suggest however they are eager to give Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade as much game-time batting at six and seven as they can, with the seven-specialist-batter approach that won them the World Cup seemingly their preferred method.
But their strategy is a constant work in progress as they look to match their unexpected triumph at last year's T20 World Cup when the tournament is held on Australian soil for the first time from October.
"You always tend to have an eye towards ICC events and the fact that the final is here and that it's my that's my home ground personally (is significant)," said Colac-born Finch.
"I've got some great memories here. A lot of the guys in the last World Cup squad do as well because we had the success of 2015 ODI World Cup here.
"You can think about it and dream about it. But the reality of it's a little bit (far away) still."
Dettol T20 Series v Sri Lanka 2022
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head*, Moises Henriques, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa * unavailable for first three matches
Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamika Karunaratne, Janith Liyanage, Kamil Mishara, Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Shiran Fernando
Game 1: Australia won by 20 runs (DLS)
Game 2: Australia won in a Super Over
Game 3: Australia won by six wickets
February 18: Fourth T20, MCG, 7.10pm AEDT
February 20: Fifth T20, MCG, 5.10pm AEDT
All matches broadcast exclusively on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports. Radio coverage by ABC Grandstand, Triple M and SEN