Aaron Finch believes his forthcoming spell as Yorkshire’s overseas player can help him shed the tag of a limited-overs specialist and break into Australia’s Test team.
The powerful Victorian batsman, rated the No 1 T20 batsman in the world, has arrived at Headingley ahead of his debut in Friday’s NatWest T20 Blast clash with Derbyshire.
He will then make his LV= County Championship bow in Saturday’s clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road as a replacement for New Zealander Kane Williamson.
The 27-year-old has a reputation as a fearsome striker of the white ball, but his form against the red ball has been “poor” by his own admission.
In 39 first-class matches to date, he has only scored two hundreds and averages just 27.47.
“I want to play Test cricket, and that’s my number one goal,” he said. “Whether that’s next year or a couple of years down the track, it’s still my number one goal.
“When you grow up, you don’t grow up wanting to be a one-day cricketer for Australia. I grew up dreaming of becoming a Test cricketer, and this stint can only help that.
“It’s going to be a good learning curve for me, and hopefully the young guys here I can learn a lot from. There are some seriously good players, very experienced players as well, so I will be doing my best to learn as much as I can off those guys.”
This will be Finch’s first spell of county cricket, although he has played international cricket in England before.
He was also a successful overseas professional in the York & District Senior League for the Clifton Alliance club in 2009.
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