Aaron Finch

“If you've got somebody throwing numbers out at you the whole time, your creative flair as a captain can be really diminished”

“And if you just don't get that balance quite right first up, it doesn't take too many games for you to start doubting yourself - and then, all of a sudden, it's a flow-on effect.”

“You still have to have a platform to be able to launch your innings from.”

“It's generally guys at the top of the order, where the ball does move every now and then. It doesn't swing for long, but when it does, it can be extreme in the first one or two overs of a T20 innings, and that's when you're most vulnerable as a player.”

“It certainly was for me. It just gives you another avenue to be successful more often.”

“There's been times during this IPL [2025] where everyone's been critical about teams not having a different gear to go to, so having that base is definitely beneficial.”

“Being a little older when I was exposed to international cricket and IPL, you've played more longer-form cricket in that period of time.”

“It's just the fact that they don't have a fundamental technique to fall back on, and generally they're younger guys who are still trying to work out their game.”

“You still have to have a fundamental technique to fall back on. You see guys in T20 now who get really hot for a period and then really cold for a long period.”

“It would go to 45, and as the game started to evolve, it was like: if we can get to 60… but don't take any risk. Be none or one down, no more than that at the end of the powerplay.”

“We had a coach who had a lot of success as a T20 coach - Greg Shipperd - with Victoria, and his philosophy was: if you can get 40 off the first six, none down, you've done your job.”

“It's just fascinating to see where the game's gone [since]. But it was just the reality of the times. People were still working out how to go about playing T20 cricket at the start.”

“I mean, there were celebrities playing in domestic Big Bash games, and the philosophies on the game were very different.”

“It was almost a bit of a hit-and-giggle still. Until the IPL came in, it probably wasn't taken as seriously as what everyone thought it should be.”

“They were almost revolutionary in the way that they went about it, so it was a good time to come into T20 cricket.”

“I was really lucky to play with some players who had a lot of experience around the world, particularly in county cricket, [like] Dave Hussey, Cameron White and Brad Hodge.”