Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who served as the captain of the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in international cricket. Along with England, it is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing and winning the first ever Test match in 1877; the team also plays One ...

in ODI and T20I cricket. Finch currently holds the record for two of the three highest individual scores in

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

s (T20I), his score of 172 against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

in July 2018 beating his previous record of 156 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 2013. Finch was a part of the Australian team that won the

2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

, and six years later as Australia's captain, Finch also led Australia to win the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which was the maiden T20 World Cup title for the country. In July 2018, he became the first player to reach 900 rating points on the official

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) T20I rankings. He made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

debut for Australia in October 2018. He is also a part time commentator with Fox Cricket and Triple M. Finch has played domestically for Victoria and

Melbourne Renegades Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competit ...

. He is an opening batter, and occasional left arm orthodox spinner.

Junior and domestic career

As a junior, Finch played at Colac West Cricket Club in the Colac & District Cricket Association (CDCA) as a wicket-keeper. A right-handed batsman, he played in the

2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was played in Sri Lanka from 2 to 15 February 2006. It was the sixth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. The final was played between Pakistan and India in Colombo, which Pakistan won by 38 runs, e ...

in Sri Lanka. Finch got his opportunity to become established as a regular in the Victorian side in the 2009/10 season. He hit his maiden

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

century against

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

(MCG) in a partnership of 212 runs for the third wicket with

David Hussey David John Hussey (born 15 July 1977) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batter and can also Bowler (cricket), bowl right-arm off breaks. He is the younger brother of former Australian cricketer Michael ...

. In October 2012, while filling in as captain, he scored 154 runs at

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, a new highest score for Victoria in domestic one day cricket. After playing for the

in the inaugural Big Bash League season in 2011, he captained the side in 2012 and was the Big Bash League player of the year. Finch captained the Melbourne Renegades from 2012 through to 2020, before stepping down citing he wanted to spend more time with his family. He then returned to captaincy for the back half of the 2022/23 season, after an injury to captain Nic Maddinson. In December 2015, Finch became the first player to score 1,000 runs in the Big Bash. Finch became only the second player to score over 3,000 runs in the Big Bash on 1 January 2023. Finch has played county cricket in England, first for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is a professional Cricket club based in Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the County Championship, the top tier of English First-class cricket. Nicknamed "Vikings". Yorkshire also competes in T20 Blast, O ...

in 2014 and 2015 before joining

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

from 2016. In July 2018, during the 2018 t20 Blast, he scored 131

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

for Surrey, setting a new record for the highest T20 individual score for Surrey in a county match and hitting the highest T20 score at the Hove County Ground.

Franchise teams

Finch has played for nine teams in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

(IPL), more than any other player. He was first selected by Rajasthan Royals in 2010 before going on to play the next two seasons for Delhi Daredevils. 2013 saw him play for Pune Warriors India, 2014 for Sunrisers Hyderabad and 2015 for

Mumbai Indians The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...

, although his opportunities for the side were limited due to injury. In 2016 he was bought by Gujarat Lions, playing for the side for two seasons, before being bought by Kings XI Punjab in the 2018 IPL Auction. He was released by KXIP at the end of the season and opted out of 2019 IPL season in order to prepare for the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the 2020 season. In 2022, Finch was signed by the

Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and ...

as a replacement for

Alex Hales Alexander Daniel Hales (born 3 January 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batter who represented the England cricket team across all formats and played domestically for Nottinghamshire. He made his One Day International ...

for the 2022 Indian Premier League. Elsewhere, Finch had played continuously for Melbourne Renegades from the 2011/12 season until retiring after the 2023/24 season. Finch also played for Ruhuna Royals in Sri Lanka's 2012 season.Aaron Finch (Teams)
CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2023.

International career

Finch made his international debut for Australia in a T20I against

in January 2011. Two years later he made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. In August 2013, Finch set a new record for the highest individual score in a Twenty20 international, scoring 156 runs from 63 balls against England at the Rose Bowl, Southampton. Finch's innings included 14 sixes (also a record) and 11 fours. He was the first player to score 150 runs in a T20I innings. He was awarded the Men's T20I Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony by

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

in 2014. Finch was selected as part of Australia's

squad. In Australia's first group match against England he top scored with 135 runs, helping Australia to a 111 run win. Despite being the top rated T20I batsman, he was dropped for the first two matches of Australia's campaign in the 2016 ICC World T20 before being reinstated for the last two matches of the campaign. In late 2015 an unusual warmup tour game at Blacktown International Sportspark, in the 2015-16 New Zealand tour of Australia enabled Finch to score his highest first class cricket innings. As part of a team composed of players who had been not selected for their respective state

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

matches that week he smashed 288 not out and was part of record breaking 503 opening wicket stand with Ryan Carters, who piled on 209 runs of his own. The pair batted through the entire first day, torturing the New Zealand attack in a match they would have much preferred to be batting in. On the second day the badly deteriorating surface caused the New Zealanders to play spin only due to the threat of potential injury to pace bowlers, and the pair continued through the morning until Carters was dismissed by Tom Latham, wicket-keeper batsman earning the only wicket he took in his career in high level cricket. The locals declared immediately, the New Zealand refused to bat due to the playing surface being worn down to bare dirt and the game was abandoned. The 503 run partnership set a new record as the highest partnership in Australian first-class cricket history and one that still stands as of 2024. In January 2017, Finch was named as stand-in captain for the first ODI against New Zealand in Australia's tour of New Zealand after Matthew Wade withdrew from the side with an injury. Before the second ODI of that series Wade was ruled out of series due to a back injury and Finch continued to captain in the remaining matches. In April 2018, he was awarded a national contract by Cricket Australia for the 2018–19 season and in July scored 172 against Zimbabwe, a new record T20I individual score. He hit 10 sixes in the innings during a world record T20I opening stand of 223 runs with D'Arcy Short which ended in the final over of the innings. The partnership was the second highest for any wicket in a T20I. In September 2018, he was named in Australia's Test match squad for their series against Pakistan in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, making his Test debut on 7 October. He had his

baggy green The baggy green is a cricket cap of dark myrtle green colour, which has been worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century. The cap was not originally baggy as evidenced by photographs of early players. Th ...

cap presented to him by

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the Captain (cricket), captain of the Australia national cricket team, Australian team, and l ...

before going on to score 62 and 49 runs in his two innings in the match. In April 2019, Finch was named the captain of Australia's squad for the

. On 16 July 2020, Finch was named in a 26-man preliminary squad of players to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 14 August 2020,

confirmed that the fixtures would be taking place, with Finch included in the touring party. In November 2020, Finch was nominated for the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Decade award. On 5 March 2021, Finch became the leading run-getter for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in T20I format going past David Warner against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In August 2021, Finch was named as the captain of Australia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Finch would then captain Australia to win their maiden T20 World Cup, defeating New Zealand in the final by eight wickets. On 10 September 2022, Finch announced his retirement from ODI cricket ahead of the third ODI against New Zealand, but still planned to play in T20Is. He continued to captain Australia's Twenty20 side and led it in its failed defence of the T20 World Cup in October and November 2022 in Australia. On 7 February 2023, Finch announced his retirement from international cricket.

International centuries

During his career Finch has scored 19 centuries in international cricket 17 in

s and two in

Achievements

* Australian ODI Player of the Year: 2020 * Australian T20I Player of the Year: 2014, 2018 * Big Bash League Player of the Series: 2012-13 * Marsh One Day Cup Player of the Tournament: 2012-13

Personal life

Finch married Amy Griffith in 2018; the couple have a daughter. He is a supporter of the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

team Geelong Cats.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Aaron 1986 births Auckland cricketers Australia Test cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Twenty20 International cricketers Australian cricket commentators Australian cricket captains Australian cricketers Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from Victoria (state) Delhi Capitals cricketers Gujarat Lions cricketers Living people Melbourne Renegades cricketers Pune Warriors India cricketers Rajasthan Royals cricketers Ruhuna Royals cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in Sri Lanka Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketers Surrey cricketers Victoria cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in England Sportspeople from Colac, Victoria Punjab Kings cricketers Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in India Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers Mumbai Indians cricketers 21st-century Australian sportsmen People from Colac, Victoria