Australia tour of England 2020

05 Sep 2020

There will be few players currently in better form than Marnus Labuschagne but the Australian batsman will most likely have to wait to make his T20 international debut, according to skipper Aaron Finch.

On Tuesday, Marnus Labuschagne smashed 100 from 51 balls opening the batting in a T20 trial game.

But speaking on the eve of the first T20I against England in the Southampton, Aaron Finch hinted that although the final XI will only be revealed at the toss, it may not feature Marnus Labuschagne.

"We're pretty settled with how we structure our T20 side at the moment," Aaron Finch said.

"He played nicely the other day, but I think he might have to wait a little bit longer in T20 cricket.

"He's had an opportunity to bat at the top of the order and he hits the ball in the middle of the bat more often than most other players and hits the ball in the gaps so that's a pretty good recipe for T20 cricket and all cricket.

"He played beautifully the other day for a hundred, it was a great knock."

No space for Labuschagne in the top three

With David Warner and Aaron Finch opening the batting for Australia, and Steve Smith coming in at No.3, there will be no space for Labuschagne in the top three.

With the Australian team having arrived last week, and played three practice matches since then, the Australian skipper said that the matches were "fantastic".

"It's been a really good hit out the last few days. Obviously with Maxwell getting a hundred, Marnus, Alex Carey all getting hundreds in two different formats is really pleasing.

"Marcus Stoinis [who scored 87, 17 and 68 in three matches] has played really well at the top of the order. That's been really pleasing with the bat.

"Josh Hazlewood (three wickets) has been outstanding with the ball across a few games. I think overall the quality of games has been fantastic so to have that really competitive hit out leading into the first T20 is really important," Finch said.