Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch has indicated that left-arm spin all-rounder Ashton Agar will get many chances to play in white-ball matches on the tour of Sri Lanka. With leg-spinner Adam Zampa rising to be Australia's main spinner and three-pronged pace attack, there was no room for Agar to break into the playing eleven except for the match against England in their triumphant campaign of ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the UAE last year.
But with Zampa absent for the tour of Sri Lanka due to the birth of his first child, Agar will be shouldering spin duties for the three T20s and five ODIs in Colombo and Pallekele. "He's proved over the last couple of years that he's one of the best in the world in the T20 format. He'll certainly get a lot of opportunities on this tour to play that frontline spinner role in both white-ball formats of the game," Finch was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
Finch also confirmed that Australia will stick to their four-man bowling attack, something which fetched them the T20 World Cup silverware. "We feel as though that's a really well-balanced side for T20 cricket because we've still got seven genuine batters. (All-rounder Glenn) Maxwell is as good as a frontline spinner, (all-rounders) Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, their bowling is very underrated in T20 cricket as well." At the same time, Finch hinted at the possibility of Australia experimenting with their eleven.
"I think it's about making sure that we still feel as though (our current line-up) is the right way to go into a World Cup in Australia. We're pretty confident that it is." Australia is touring Sri Lanka at a time when the island nation is under immense turmoil due to economic and political crisis. After a three-day isolation in Colombo, Australia won't be subject to stringent Covid-19 protocols, compared to their trip to Pakistan this year.
"Cricket Australia has been really transparent about their communications with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We've got some opportunities to be able to get out and about after our isolation." "Then it's just about making sure that anytime we do go out and about, we give security enough notice just so they can be across everything and make sure that where we're going is safe. We're able to dine outside at some prearranged restaurants and stuff like that. We're starting to get back to a little bit more normality than what it's been like for the last couple of years."