'Loyalty, loveable, leader': Long-time teammates honour Finch

Few players have had a greater impact on Australian limited-overs cricket – particularly the T20 format – than Aaron Finch.

A dual World Cup winner, powerful ball striker and one of the best white-ball tacticians the game has seen, Finch led Australia to an against-the-odds maiden T20 World Cup triumph in the UAE in 2021.

He finishes his T20 career as the country's second highest run-scorer in the format (11,458) behind David Warner and his Big Bash career as the competition's second highest run-scorer of all-time (3311) behind Chris Lynn.

Having led the Melbourne Renegades to their first and only title when they defeated the Stars in the KFC BBL|08 final, Finch says one of his proudest achievements is being a one-club player in the Bash.

As Australian cricket prepares to farewell Aaron Finch for the final time when the Renegades take on crosstown rivals the Stars on Saturday night, we look – through the eyes of his Australian and Victorian teammates Glenn Maxwell, Brad Hodge, David Hussey and Peter Siddle – as to what made the boy from Colac so good.

Describe Aaron Finch?

David Hussey: As a cricketer – bold, powerful, team-orientated and confident. As a person – loyal, a great team man who would do anything for the team.

Brad Hodge: A loveable, friendly, affectionate character that you just like hanging around and spending time with.

Glenn Maxwell: A typical country bogan and a bloody good friend.

Peter Siddle: Laid back, very relaxed, but then you get him on the field and he's very aggressive and a great leader.

First impressions of Aaron Finch?

Hussey: I first met Aaron when he was a young 15-16-year-old in a Victorian Diamonds in the Bush cricket camp where the state-contracted players go to the country areas and try and pick some talented players. I was fortunate enough to see Aaron in Geelong at the time, he drove up from Colac, and one thing that stuck out was the power that he had. For a 15-16-year-old kid to have that much power, it was just remarkable.

Hodge: He was playing for Geelong and was not far away from joining the Shield squad – my first impression was that instant moment where a good player can look at another good player and go, 'well, he's pretty special'.

Maxwell: I first met him when I was a rookie for Victoria, but even before that I went and saw his debut for Victoria when I was just a fan in the crowd. I think he might have been batting at seven, but I knew in Premier Cricket he'd made like 900 runs (in a season) a couple of times in a row and he was the next big thing coming through. Being two of the younger guys around that time, and him being slightly older, he was one of the guys that took care of me and took me under his wing a little bit.

Siddle: We met at the Victorian Institute of Sport going back a long time ago. Two country boys, both very similar and got along from the word go. The one thing that stands out is he hasn't changed a bit from that kid I met when he was 15 or 16.

When did you believe he would play for Australia?

Hussey: There was a T20 game at the MCG against Tassie where he opened the batting with Hodge and just smacked them everywhere. Everyone just kept talking about, 'yeah, Hodge's innings was great', but we expected that. The way Finch struck the ball against (Brett) Geeves, Rana Naved, he just took them apart and you just knew at that stage, we had a player who could definitely go on and play for Australia.

Hodge: I knew straight away when he first joined Victoria and when I started opening the batting with him in T20 cricket, there were moments in that where you just saw brilliance and things that Aaron Finch could do that no one else could do. In Australia that was being able to hustle the ball and hit it miles and that's one thing that he does, he hits a cricket ball miles. To open the batting with him was really cool. I'm not even sure if he saw me as a mentor or a player he looked up to, but I hope that was the case because I had that same sensation with Dean Jones.

Siddle: Compared to all the other kids, he was very aggressive, took the game on and you knew that he had a lot of talent. He was contracted (by Victoria) around the same time as I was and when he'd come up against the senior bowlers he could handle it, he could take them on and that was just in the nets. So from a very early age, you knew he was going to make something of it.

Favourite Aaron Finch innings?

Hussey: It's actually for the Renegades, which kills me. It was against the Stars when 'Warnie' came back in one of the first BBL games between the two teams. The Stars batted first at Marvel (Stadium) and we scrambled 160-odd and I made this stupid comment in the dressing room that the pitch was really two-paced and hard to score off, 'we've got 20 too many'. The Renegades, or Finch by himself, got them and it was just something to see. Instead of being a competitor on the field, you actually became a fan watching these balls sail over your head all the time.

Hodge: There was (his 121 against England in 2014) at the MCG that I just admired because I would have like to have done it myself. I got 99 (not out) and never made a one-day or international hundred at the 'G and I remember thinking what an awesome achievement. Even the fifty that he got in Test match cricket after a couple of struggles he had early, was also rewarding.

Maxwell: The 156 he got against England in a T20 in 2013. It was the first time he'd absolutely taken apart an international attack. He hit Steven Finn for six with his first ball of the match and it was massive. He got off the mark with a six and he got to each milestone with a six, which was pretty cool and when we were living together, we would watch the highlights non-stop.

Most memorable partnership with Aaron Finch?

Maxwell: We put on a big partnership for Victoria (in November 2012) – I was at No.3 and he was opening. We put on 111 at the MCG against Mitchell Johnson and he was bowling absolute thunderbolts. He'd just been dropped from the Australian team, so he was breathing fire. But he was bowling slower balls across Finchy to get him off strike so he could bowl to me. We were both not out at the end chasing a lowish total of 182.

Hussey: The 2009-10 Shield final, we played against Queensland at the MCG. It was a really low scoring first innings and then we batted for a very long time in the second innings. The game was on the line, it was high pressure, but we just gelled and kept telling each other to lock in and bat Queensland into the ground. He was really enjoyable to bat with because there were lots of verbals, it was a high-pressure environment, but we just batted and batted and eventually bowled Queensland out late on day five.

Hodge: The most memorable, which didn't end well and was pretty much my last game for Australia, was the (2014) T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and Finchy was at the top of the order and I was No.6. He was 50-odd not out and (Pakistani) Saeed Ajmal was bowling at one end, and these doosras were bouncing and turning a mile and he'd swung at three or four of them in a row and missed them by about eight feet. We looked at each other and went 'what do we do here?' It was quite funny because the long history we've had, we found ourselves in the middle of a cricket field not having any clue how we were going to try and score 10 an over off Saeed Ajmal. So, it just sticks in my mind because that was one of the last innings I played with him.

Aaron Finch's best moment?

Maxwell: The 2015 World Cup was special being the only two Vics in the squad and to do it in front of our friends and family. We'd both come along the journey together, we've got adjoining cap numbers for Australia – I'm 196, he's 197, so it's quite nice to have that journey go side-by-side for so long. I've been extremely fortunate, not only to live with him, but to be in the same squads together, be in the same team and be close friends for a long period of time.

Hussey: As a friend looking in, the T20 World Cup in Dubai a couple of years ago. The way he prepared for that (final) against the Kiwis was phenomenal and tactically I don't think he put a foot wrong.

Aaron Finch's legacy?

Hodge: Anyone that represents their country should be extremely proud of what they've done to be able to get there. Finchy's gone a little bit further than that and will walk away being a great leader of a great bunch of cricketers, and as a great team man who loves other people around him.

Maxwell: Everything is really genuine with Aaron, there was nothing fake about him. He was really open and honest about exactly who he was as a person, he never tried to hide that. I'm pretty sure every Australian knows what Aaron Finch is like and on the field is very similar to what he's like off the field. To go down in history as the first to lead Australia to a T20 World Cup (title) is extremely special.

Hussey: Always looking to entertain because when he batted, people sat down and watched because he provided a lot of entertainment as a cricketer, so I think that's his lasting legacy. And loyalty, he was a very loyal person, he played for the Renegades and Victoria the whole way through and that's a true test of his character.

Aaron Finch's impact on the BBL?

Maxwell: He's been the face of it for such a long period of time; a lot of the younger players coming through owe a lot to the hard work and sacrifice that Finchy and a lot of the senior players have put into to make the BBL the product that is today. Especially for the Renegades, he's been the face and centre of the BBL, always speaking up for it and being a voice for the players for such a long period of time.

Hussey: Every time he went out to bat, everyone sat down and was glued to the television, not too dissimilar to Glenn Maxwell. Whether the Renegades needed a middle-order player, Finch would always put his hand up. Or they need somebody to bat at the top, he'd do that for the team. That's the true test of Finch's character is he always wanted to do what the team needs, and he provided entertainment for old people like myself and inspiration for the new generation coming forward.

Siddle: To play the whole entirety of the Big Bash for the one franchise, his name is going to be etched into the Renegades history. He's always been a fan favourite, he's one of those X-factors that people want to come and watch play and hopefully tonight it can be one last Finchy knock to get us over the line.

KFC BBL|13 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

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