Aaron Finch injured his finger during the second innings of the Perth Test
Australia opener Aaron Finch said that he is feeling fine and ready to play the Boxing Day Test, which starts on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Finch, who hails from Victoria, said that he is feeling fine and he will practice batting and fielding at slips over the next couple of days and expects to play until and unless he feels the pain again.
"Even batting in the warm-up before the second innings in Perth I still felt pretty good. Catching might be a bit of a different issue, at training I always tape my finger up anyway, but this'll just be a bit of extra padding. With a Boxing Day Test and being from Victoria it's going to have to be cut off I think.
"I'm going to catch in slips at training and do my normal preparation. If anything changes in the next couple days I'm sure we'll have to sit down and chat about that, but at this stage it's still business as usual and I plan to field at slip and whatever else is needed. It feels like it's improved 100 per cent over the last couple of days," Finch said.
Finch was hurt from a Mohammed Shami delivery during the second innings of the Perth Test at the Optus Stadium and had to walk off after he failed to continue batting. He was taken to the hospital and scans were conducted and were later cleared to bat in the second innings.
Speaking about the injury, Finch said: "It was a bit of a shock, just the initial pain was the thing that got me. It felt like it was going to explode, which was quite funny. I think just being hit a few times in the last month, a couple times by Starcy at training then Shami out in the game, but it's also an old break.
"I broke the same finger in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, so I've got to start either catching them or use my bat instead of my gloves. It was up there [as the most painful]. I think snapping my hamstring tendon [in April 2015] was probably the most over the last few years."
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When asked about captain Tim Paine helping him manage his finger, Finch heaped praise on the Tasmianian and said that he has a high pain threshold.
"He's got about 15 screws and a couple metal plates in his so a little bit different, he's carried that for a lot longer than what I have," Finch said. "He's got a high pain threshold."
Finch will be playing his first Test at the MCG and on his return to Melbourne, he said that it is good to be back home.
"I do feel refreshed, but at the same time I had to move house during that period so my wife had to do a bit of extra heavy lifting which is unfortunate for her, but it's just great to be home. Whether going for a coffee at the local cafe or going out for breakfast or lunch or whatever it is, just a bit of familiarity with being home is always nice," said the 32-year-old.
