When Finch inspired Sri Lankans to support Aussies

by Rex Clementine

Over the last 40 years, Australian captains of different styles have visited our island. Greg Chappell, who led them in 1983, was an artist with the bat but a ruthless sledger. Allan Border, the captain of the 1992 side after they pulled off an unlikely victory at SSC gave the press the best quote ever when he compared Australia’s win to the ‘biggest heist since the great train robbery.’

Steve Waugh was a man of steel. He had broken his nose at Asgiriya and went onto play the SSC Test against doctor’s advice.

Ricky Ponting’s first assignment as captain was here in 2004 and despite conceding first innings lead in all three Tests found ways to whitewash Sri Lanka 3-0. Michael Clarke is often crucified as a selfish fellow but brought an inexperienced attack here in 2011 and won the series. Then there was of course Steve Smith who lost the Warne-Murali trophy for the first time in 2016.

Aaron Finch, the last man to skipper an Aussie side on our shores was a different kettle of fish. He didn’t sledge, he wasn’t aggressive, he wasn’t a showman and by the time he left Colombo, he had won many hearts. So what did he do differently?

Finch’s Aussies arrived in the island in June last year with the people starting to feel the pinch. There were doubts about the tour going ahead in the first place but Finch like the late Martin Crowe in 1992 convinced his men that cricket should continue despite the turmoil.

The country had come to a standstill. There’s no fuel, there’s no cooking gas, there’s no essential medicine and there were long hours of power cuts. Gota’s vistas of prosperity were in full flow.

The Australian team bus travelled passed the Aragalaya site often while in Colombo and they could get a firsthand experience of people’s frustration. At times with protests turning violent and curfew imposed the tour was in danger. But the Aussies stayed on with their captain calling the shots. Not only did Finch say all the right things, he also never grumbled despite many hardships. He became an instant hero among the fans.

Spontaneously, the fans applauded Australia’s kind gesture by turning up in numbers for the final ODI at RPS wearing yellow. It didn’t matter to them who won the game. Some 35,000 adoring fans were there to just say thank you Australia. Finch was lost for words. It was a surreal experience. Something that they had never experienced outside Australia. He went on a victory lap after the game to thank the public. That’s not all. The Aussies gifted all the prize money for charity to help the most vulnerable.

Since the tour of Sri Lanka, nothing much has gone right for the Victorian. Finch stepped down as ODI captain last September after a string of poor scores.

Australia won their first-ever T20 World Cup under Finch in 2021 in Dubai. The following year when they hosted the event, they needed a good show but Australia failed to make it to the semis and the writing was on the wall for Finch.

Yesterday in Melbourne he announced that he’s stepping down from the T20 side so that Australia can rebuild for 2024 when the Caribbean and US will host the event.

Finch may be gone but his deeds will be remembered for years to come. Not often does an Australian team attract 35,000 fans clad in yellow rooting for them on foreign soil.