Finch won't open, warns 'don't write me off too quick'

Aaron Finch has a message for his KFC BBL|12 rivals: "don't write me off too quick".

Indeed, the Aussie T20 skipper comes into the Melbourne Renegades season opener against the Brisbane Heat tonight in Cairns fresh off his best knock in almost a year.

The 36-year-old wound back the clock last Friday in the Renegades preseason match against crosstown rivals the Stars with an unbeaten 79 off just 46 balls – his best score in any format since his 82 against the Thunder last January.

Finch brushed off suggestions this Big Bash season could be his last, and said he was just excited to be back playing after a hamstring injury cut short his T20 World Cup. 

"The last time I played was the Ireland game during the World Cup and then I had one game for Geelong (in Victorian Premier Cricket)," he told reporters in Geelong last week before the Renegades travelled to Far North Queensland for their season opener.

"Since then, it's just been a little bit of training so I'm really keen to get back into it. Once you have a little break for a while, it gets the juices flowing again."

Finch missed what would be Australia's final match of the World Cup against Afghanistan in Adelaide with a hamstring niggle but BBL's second highest run-scorer of all-time said the injury was "fine" heading into BBL|12.

But he is unlikely to bat in his regular opening slot this season, revealing at a family day in Werribee on Sunday he could bat at No.4 after filling the No.3 roll in the practice match against the Stars.

His successor at the top could be Nic Maddinson – who also took over the Renegades captaincy from Finch last season – for at least the first four matches until New Zealand great Martin Guptill joins the squad.

"I think we've added some real strengths to our group so for us it's just about starting the tournament well," Finch said.

"In a 14-game season with games so close together, if you slip for a week or so it can put you out of the finals race, so we've got to be right on it from the start.

"In T20 cricket, experience counts for a lot.

"Guys like Andre Russell and Martin Guptill have dominated world cricket for a long time, so they're huge draw cards for our club.

"Peter Handscomb brings a lot of experience, Jon Wells has been someone who has really been the glue for Adelaide for a long time, so it was great to get him across.

"Tom Rogers has had a fantastic couple of years as well so adding in that real experience around a lot of our really talented young players is crucial."

Stand-in Heat skipper Jimmy Peirson said although they were missing their Test players in captain Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser for the first part of BBL|12, their overseas recruits were "like-for-like".

"We're really fortunate that our squad has lined up really well that our overseas guys here now, Sam Billings and Colin Munro, and then our Test guys that are away are like-for-like," he said in Cairns yesterday.

"The guys that are here are very similar and our squad can play the same sort of brand of cricket.

"Mitch Swepson is on the fringe are playing Test cricket, Michael Neser, who unfortunately isn't here, but it's great seeing him in the Test side again … but we've got some great personnel around to fill that spot as well."

The Heat and Renegades face off in Cairns tonight live from 6.15pm local time on Channel 7, Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports.

Heat squad v Renegades: Jimmy Peirson (c), Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Sam Billings (England), Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro (New Zealand), Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Ross Whiteley (England)

Renegades squad v Heat: Nic Maddinson (c), Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Mackenzie Harvey, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), David Moody, Kane Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Andre Russell (West Indies), Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells