Australia's white-ball captain and longtime opening batsman, Aaron Finch, could bat as low as five if needed, the 35-year-old said as the team experiments with strategies ahead of its Twenty20 World Cup defence on home soil this year.
The T20 World Cup is set to be played in October-November, with Australia beginning their title defence with a rematch of last year's final against trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand.
Finch said he will stay at the No. 3 spot for the fourth T20 match against Sri Lanka on Friday but is willing to slide further down the batting order for the final match on Sunday or even in the upcoming tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"I'm pretty flexible with where I can bat in the order," Finch told reporters on Thursday. "Potentially five in the next couple of games, but the coach (Andrew McDonald) isn't too excited about that prospect."
"There's a lot of talk about (strategy) behind the scenes between myself and the coaching staff," he added. "We're just trying a few different combinations to see where we land and get a bit more information with the World Cup (this year)."
Finch added that Australia are eager to give Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade as much game-time batting at six and seven as they can ahead of the World Cup.
"You always tend to have an eye towards ICC events and the fact that the final is here and that it's my that's my home ground personally (is significant)," Finch said. "You can think about it and dream about it. But the reality of it's a little bit (far away) still."
Australia should have different coach for each format, says Watson
Australia should move away from their traditional approach of appointing one coach for all three formats of the game, former all-rounder Shane Watson said on Thursday.
Cricket Australia is searching for a new head coach following the resignation of Justin Langer, with Andrew McDonald appointed on an interim basis.
Watson, who represented Australia in all three formats in more than 300 appearances, said the team would benefit if the top coaching job was shared.
"I think it is going to have to be a necessity to break up the formats with their (Australia's) coaches," Watson told the International Cricket Council's show 'The ICC Review'.
"There is a good chance they will split the roles as I don't think it is sustainable that everyone does every single format for a long period of time.
"There is always going to be burnout and fatigue in a team environment, especially now with COVID and bubbles and similar situations that are around."
Watson said former Sri Lanka and England coach Trevor Bayliss would be a good fit for Australia.
"I love the experience Trevor Bayliss has," Watson said. "He has probably seen every single thing possible in cricket just about and I would love to see him get a great opportunity."
"Andrew McDonald is a great coach and is in the early part of his career, but I would err towards experience just for this interim period for the next stage of Australian cricket."
