Bailey backs Finch, ODI recall not on Khawaja's radar

Selection chief George Bailey has again backed Aaron Finch to lead Australia at the upcoming T20 and ODI World Cups, saying the opener's return to form this week didn't come as a surprise.

But the prospect of a white-ball recall for the in-form Usman Khawaja appears remote, at least in the short term, with the reborn Test star saying he hasn’t spoken to selectors about one-day cricket since his surprise axing in 2019.

Finch's match-winning innings of 55 in a T20 against Pakistan on Wednesday, his first half-century in 17 innings for Australia, eased some of the pressure on the 35-year-old ahead of his side's T20 World Cup title defence later this year.

Bailey and Finch are also planning for the Victorian to captain the side at next year's 50-over World Cup in India, which the opener has indicated may signal the end of his international career.

Finch went through similar form droughts leading into the 2019 and 2021 World Cups but was backed by selectors and returned to his best in time for those events.

Despite what the skipper this week labelled external "panic" about his run of low scores, Bailey said he was always confident Finch could rediscover top form.

"Not relieved – always know it's coming with Finchy," Bailey said today.

"He's said it himself that he'd have liked to have contributed more … he'd like to be scoring more runs.

"We have so much cricket from now until that T20 World Cup and the build-up to the one-day World Cup that he's got a great opportunity, and probably now a little bit of time to focus … on a couple of little technical things that he wants to work on, which is great.

"The leadership he provides, the way that T20 team and the one-day team has been building, we're starting to get some good buy-in to the way we want to play, on the back of the way the squad played in that T20 World Cup.

"I'm confident Finchy will come good and be firing in the lead up to and including the World Cup."

Finch is one of 16 Australians currently at the Indian Premier League, which finishes a little more than a week before a multi-format tour of Sri Lanka begins on June 7.

Australia were without several big-name players for the recent white-ball games in Pakistan, with the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and David Warner given time away from the game before heading to the IPL.

Bailey indicated his three-format players may again need to be given a break for parts of the Sri Lankan campaign, especially if their IPL teams go deep into the tournament, saying the two Tests in Galle between June 29 and July 12 will be prioritised over the eight white-ball matches that come before it.

Bailey lauded the performances in Pakistan of players like Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis, who were unlikely to have been picked had Australia had all its players to choose from.

While hopeful of picking full-strength teams in all formats as Australia look to fine-tune their game ahead of the two upcoming World Cups, Bailey added the Pakistan experience was invaluable.

"There's only about 20 games before the start of the one-day World Cup, which isn't a great deal … when you're trying to build a team and a framework of how you're going to play together," he said.

"I don't like the word bench strength – it's just depth. And it's what's required given how much cricket is played internationally. If you don't have it, you're going to get caught short."

Khawaja hasn't played one-day cricket for Australia since the 2019 World Cup despite averaging almost 50 in the format that year, including the only two hundreds of his career.

The left-hander said the hurt of that decision led him to instead focus on red-ball cricket and that he hadn't sought clarification after being overlooked for the white-ball segment of the Pakistan tour.

"I haven't bothered asking, to be honest," he said.

"The last time I got dropped from the white-ball squad, I was averaging 50 and I think I was the second or third-highest run-scorer in that calendar year in white-ball cricket.

"After that happened, I stopped giving a crap about it, to be honest. If they want to pick me, they can pick me. If they don't, my head's not really there.

"I'm still very fortunate that I get to play Test cricket and for Queensland back home … if any of the other the other stuff comes up, I'd love to do it. I just don't really think about anything that I don't have right in front of me here and now."

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, 2022

June 7: First T20, Colombo

June 8: Second T20, Colombo

June 11: Third T20, Kandy

June 14: First ODI, Kandy

June 16: Second ODI, Kandy

June 19: Third ODI, Colombo

June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo

June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo

June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle