BBL 2023-24: Aaron Finch All But Confirms BBL Retirement In The Middle Of The Tournament

Former Australian skipper Aaron Finch who is playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the ongoing BBL season is set to retire from the competition. The ongoing season is the 13th edition of the Big Bash League.

Earlier today, the Renegades won their first game of the BBL 2023-34 season. They chased down 178 required for victory against Adelaide Strikers. Finch did not play today’s game and watched his team win their first match from the sidelines.

In between the match, he was asked by the host of Channel 7, “Is this officially your last season of Big Bash?”

Most Likely Yes: Aaron Finch On His BBL Retirement

Finch with his response hinted that this very well might be his last BBL season. “Most likely yes, I would say very likely yes,” came the response from Finch.

.@JaseRicho – "Is this officially your last season of Big Bash?"

Aaron Finch – "Most likely yes, I would say very likely yes."#BBL13 pic.twitter.com/mLzvaNC3KZ

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 29, 2023

Talking about the match, batting first the Adelaide Strikers posted 177/6 in their 20 overs. D’Arcy Short scored 54 and Chris Lynn scored 56 to take the Strikers to a competitive total. Lynn was very attacking in his innings as he hit four fours and four sixes during his knock. For the team in red, Mujeeb Ur Rahman who was earlier sanctioned by the Afghanistan Cricket Board took three wickets. Peter Siddle and Will Sutherland took a wicket each.

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Renegades’ chase was led by Jake Fraser-McGurk who scored a quickfire 70 off just 37 balls. Shaun Marsh scored 54 off 33 balls. This happened after Quinton de Kock bagged a duck. Joe Clarke after a good start was retired hurt which took out a little bit of momentum from the Renegades’ innings.

David Payne, the left-arm pacer from Adelaide Strikers took three wickets for 37 runs. Jamie Overton, Cameron Boyce, and James Bazley took a wicket each but the Renegades won the match in 18.4 overs.

“We didn’t want to risk him (Joe Clarke retiring hurt). Shaun Marsh knows how to chase – to have someone like that to stabilize the middle order is massive for us. There has always been a slight belief with me since the start of my career. It’s (fortune) starting to turn a bit now, hopefully it keeps going, I do enjoy hitting sixes” said Jake Fraser-McGurk who was chosen as the Player of the Match.

Aaron Finch’s impact as a leader was immense for Australia and the Melbourne Renegades. Early in 2019, he led the Melbourne Renegades to a maiden BBL title in a famous final with rivals the Stars, and in 2021, led Australia to an inaugural T20 World Cup in the UAE.

He retired from ODI cricket in September 2022 after 146 matches (including 17 centuries), and the following month became the first Australian men’s player to reach 100 T20 Internationals.

Overall Finch has played 104 innings for the Renegades scoring 3311 runs at a strike rate of 131.28 and an average of nearly 25. He hit two hundreds and 26 fifties in the BBL with the best of 111.

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