Who’s the real Finn Allen? The one you saw at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, hammering sixes and fours off Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood, or is he the one who wants to ‘fail at times’ so that he can eventually find a way to success?
As he speaks at the mixed media zone, a while after New Zealand’s big win against Australia in a T20 World Cup fixture, there are sharp contrasts in his answers.
While he looks confident on the field and does not care about Australia’s pace battery, off the pitch, he is down to earth, cautious with his answers and extremely realistic.
He idolises Kevin Pietersen, does not lose his sleep over an Indian Premier League contract and looks up to Devon Conway for suggestions on and off the field.
The off-the-pitch Allen, who patiently listens to the questions, pauses for a few minutes before answering, often appears to be different from the one you see inside the 22 yards.
He laughs and says, “I think I will have to be failing, quite a lot. The consistency sometimes can go up and down, which is often tough at times…”
The 23-year-old, who plays for Wellington Firebirds at the domestic level, also admits that in times of crisis, it was the team management and the captain Kane Williamson who stood by him.
“That’s where our management and Kane (Williamson) are so good at reassuring me that everything is good, and I had a chat with Luke Ronchi during our domestic season and that helped quite a bit. Everyone is helping me and having that trust,” he says.
Finn Allen (R) plays a shot during the ICC men’s Twenty20 World Cup 2022 cricket match between Australia and New Zealand. | Photo Credit: AFP
While the team management, undoubtedly, backs him, Allen also receives quite a bit of support from Conway, who is also his team-mate at the Firebirds. “We have played a lot of cricket together and opened the innings for a long time together, so we get along really well. We have breakfast together and the bonding between us is very good. We trust each other and push each other all the time,” he says.
“It is crucial to have that trust. We know how we talk among ourselves to keep each other going. That’s very important for our partnership…”
And that chemistry between the two was evident in the game against Australia. “The whole time we have been saying (to each other) that we want to draw the first punch whether we bowl or bat first. Batting first with Devon obviously helped us to do that,” Allen says.
It was merely a coincidence that both Allen and Conway played their first international game in Australia on Saturday, but it didn’t seem like it.
“I sort of played a lot of cricket alongside Finn playing at Wellington Firebirds and opening the batting with him. We certainly try to keep things the exact same throughout. We try to keep it nice and simple. I know what ticks for him, and he certainly knows what ticks for me. We sort of try and reiterate those messages to each other out in the middle,” Conway says.
“Then it's just about trying to do the job as a team, as a partnership. It was a good knock for the two of us…”
While Conway plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Allen was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Though he admits that ‘it would be ideal’ if RCB retains him, he is not thinking too much about it.
“That’s not up to me. I just want to perform and play everywhere,” he says, before talking about his idol Pietersen, whose ‘style of play’ impressed Allen and as he gets ready for more action in the days to come, he wants to play firebrand cricket. Off the pitch, however, you would find him calm, relaxed and ever-smiling. Well, that’s the real Finn Allen for you!
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