MELBOURNE Renegades captain Aaron Finch says this weekend’s camp in Ballarat will be really important for Matt Short.
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This is a chance for the East Ballarat export to train on field and learn from some of the game’s best.
The Renegades arrive in town today for school clinics, a training session tomorrow and the Wipe Off 5 Ballarat Bush Bash practice matches on Sunday.
How much a role Short will have in match play is something Finch is yet to fine-tune with coach Simon Helmot but Finch has been pleased with what he has seen of the Renegades’ development rookie.
“I haven’t seen him play yet but I’ve seen him in the nets around the squad. He’s a very talented young player and hopefully he can learn a lot this weekend,” Finch said.
“When you’re around guys that have played as much as some of us have – especially guys like Murali (prolific Sri Lankan wicket-taker Mutiah Muralidaran) – you can learn so much.
“It will be great experience.”
Ballarat is the first chance the Renegades will have as a group to map out tactics and piece together their game as a team.
Finch, like most of his teammates, arrived back in Melbourne yesterday from Sheffield Shield duty and must quickly adapt to the Twenty20 format.
An aggressive batsman by nature, Finch said he found it easier to adjust his style to the shorter games, rather than going back to longer matches.
Twenty20 cricket is where he has had the most success on the international stage.
The Renegades have a week to prepare for their opening-round bout against cross-town rival
Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
“It will be good to get the guys together as a group and most of the guys have a lot of input into how we approach the games,” Finch said.
“We definitely had a great year last year – the way we played throughout the tournament was outstanding.
“It was disappointing to come up short (in a semi-final) but that’s Twenty20 cricket.”
Finch said there would be no holding back for his team when they hit the field in Ballarat – there was too much work to do.