'Mental scars' for them, not us: Finch

Aaron Finch has dismissed suggestions Australia's one-day drubbing by England will leave the team with any 'mental scars' as the tour format switches to Twenty20 for Wednesday night's clash.

England will be out to try and extend their ODI dominance to the 20-over format, and the home captain Eoin Morgan was at pains to point out the mental weight of that beat-down, which culminated in a 5-0 series result and included England racking up a world record 6-481 at Trent Bridge.

"Before us there was a generation of cricketers who had never won in Australia. I am not talking about a series, just a game of cricket," Morgan said.

"Certainly having been through something similar to that, when you go back to a country where you might not have great memories, it can hold a lot of weight if you are the team in possession of that.

"Going in to the 2015 World Cup we played a tri-series in Australia, and they had beaten us 3-0, and going in to the first game against them, that, you know, was a big mountain to climb.

"That’s Australia’s mountain to climb when they come back to England next year, where they, should they have to play England, will be confronting a team which knows just how good it is."

Australia don't carry the weight of a defeated generation on their shoulders, just a single series where a below-strength bowling attack met a side at the top of their game. 

And Finch suggested England have a new unfamiliar weight they will carry into next year's World Cup – expectation.

"I don’t think when we turn up next year for the World Cup there’ll be any mental scars there, they’re probably more for England to be fair," said Finch.

"They haven’t won a World Cup and it's at home so no doubt the pressure will be huge on them.

"Winning a World Cup at home is probably as hard as it gets."

Australia have won their past six T20 internationals stretching back to last October, including two wins against England by margins of seven and five wickets in a tri-series featuring New Zealand in February. 

With largely the same squads in both camps set to clash at the cauldron of Edgbaston in a one-off match, Finch says the ODI result will have no bearing. 

"We’ve played really good T20 cricket over the last little while. That was with Davey (Warner) as skipper in the T20 tri-series but we’ve got a pretty similar group and the guys are playing some really good cricket in that format," said Finch, the national T20 captain. 

"It’s probably a format the guys have played a lot more of in the last 12 months with Big Bash and IPL and things like that.

"It’s just about trying to get some continuity over the next six games and really start to develop a core squad that we can take forward almost with one eye on the 2020 World T20 at home."

After England, the T20 squad heads to Zimbabwe for a tri-series that also features the current world No.1-ranked side Pakistan.

But before that challenge, Australia must face an England side full of confidence after their first 5-0 whitewash over their arch-rivals in any format. While that was a deflating experience, a clear break with a day off between formats and a rotation of some personnel has given Australia a fresh start. 

"There’s no reason why the boys shouldn’t be confident going into this," said Finch. 

"I know we’ve taken a bit of stick in the five ODIs but the boys will be quite confident in their skills and with a new format it's a chance to start again."

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: England won by 242 runs at Trent Bridge

June 21: England won by six wickets in Durham

June 24: England won by one wicket at Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final