Finch retires after a decade of international cricket

Aaron Finch
Photo: Photosport

Aaron Finch has announced his retirement from international cricket after more than a decade representing Australia.

Finch made his international Twenty20 debut in 2011 and played all three formats for his country, captaining in more than 100 T20 and one-day international matches.

The 36-year-old’s five-match stint in the Test team came at the end of 2018 when he filled in at the top of the order while David Warner was serving his ball-tampering ban, but it was in coloured clothing that Finch really made his name.

He won the 2015 ODI World Cup and led Australia to its maiden men’s T20 World Cup win in 2021.

The powerful opener has captained his country in 76 T20s since 2014 and has held the record for the highest individual score in an international match since 2013, when he clubbed 156 off 63 balls against England at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

He broke his own record in 2018 with 172 off 76 against Zimbabwe – his second and final T20 tonne.

With 3,120 runs from 103 matches, he also holds the record for the most games played and the most runs scored for Australia’s men’s team in the shortest international format.

Kane Williamson and Aaron Finch ahead of the opening Chapell-Hadlee one day series in March 2020.
Photo: Photosport Ltd 2020

He was named Australia’s T20 player of the year in 2014 and 2018 and is second only to Chris Lynn in terms of most runs in the men’s Big Bash League, with 3,245 from 102 games for the Melbourne Renegades.

Finch scored 17 ODI centuries and 30 half-centuries after his debut in 2013 and was named men’s ODI player of the year at the Australian Cricket Awards in 2020.

But his form in the 50-over game took a dive after that year, averaging just over 12 with the bat in 14 matches since then, leading him to take a step back from the format last year.

Finch maintained the T20 captaincy through the team’s failed World Cup defence and, with their next 20-over game not scheduled until September, decided to call time, leaving a hole at the top of the order and in the leadership ranks.

-ABC