Aaron Finch says Surrey's T20 ‘nightclub’ can cheer him up as pay row threatens Ashes dream

Aaron Finch insists he will never sacrifice his principles for personal ambition, even if it means giving up his dream of playing in the Ashes.

Finch will walk out in front of a full house at The Kia Oval on Friday, as Surrey face Middlesex in the T20 Blast. The Australia batsman has played in most of the world’s great arenas but believes The Oval on Twenty20 evenings is “the best nightclub in the world”.

Back home, many of Finch’s colleagues are preparing to face the music. Since July 1, Finch is one of 230 Australian cricketers to be effectively unemployed. The players would like a share of the revenue generated by Cricket Australia — as has been the case for the past 20 years — while Cricket Australia would rather offer them fixed wages.

The dispute meant a proposed Australia ‘A’ tour of South Africa, scheduled for this month, was cancelled. Both sides of the argument are hopeful of a solution in the coming weeks but as yet there is no agreement.

Finch has played 113 limited-overs matches for Australia and helped them win the World Cup on home soil in 2015, yet a Test cap — especially against England — remains his ambition. That contest starts in four months, with Australian cricket currently in chaos.

“The players’ stance won’t change,” Finch told Standard Sport. “We are not being paid at the moment but we are seeing the strength of the group.

“It takes courage to stick this tight. You have seen the international players stand up for the state players and the women players, just as they did 20 years ago when the Memorandum of Understanding was first agreed.

“It’s not easy but this is what we are doing and we will stay strong until a deal is done. It would have been easy for the big players to roll over and not worry about anyone else but we have seen players like [Australia vice-captain] David Warner stand strong for everyone else. We are not willing to budge. Without Australia, without state cricket, everyone suffers — the game suffers and it’s not fair on the fans who want to watch top-level cricket.

“The players have been fair and reasonable with their requests and we hope a deal can eventually be done.”

If the two sides can find common ground, Finch will be focusing firmly on a Test spot. He is one of the world’s most powerful limited-overs batsmen and has a strike rate of nearly 140 in domestic T20s. England supporters will remember him. He scored 156 from just 63 deliveries in a Twenty20 international at Southampton in 2013, before making 135 against England at Melbourne in the 2015 World Cup.

He has performed well for Surrey this summer, too, scoring two half centuries in the Blast and passing 20 in all five of his innings. But Finch rejects the idea he is a white-ball specialist. In the past three years, the 30-year-old averages nearly 55 in first-class cricket. He said: “My No1 goal is still to play Test cricket and the day I don’t think that is possible, I might hang ‘em up.

“It is still the ultimate challenge and I still believe it is a realistic chance but as soon as I don’t, I won’t stand in any young kid’s way. Over the last couple of years, we have seen Test cricket change because guys are more attacking and take the game on.

“You don’t see as many five-day Tests as in the past but you have such an entertaining style of cricket. Look at Joe Root’s 190 against South Africa at Lord’s. It wasn’t your traditional Test innings where you grind out the runs but it was still class. He smacked it everywhere.”

When he sees a Middlesex bowler approaching the crease tonight, that will be precisely Finch’s intention.