'Love playing red-ball cricket, but it’s just reality' - Aaron Finch admits his first-class days are over

Australia limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch had led his team to their maiden T20 World Cup triumph in November last year. Since then, it has all gone downhill for him as far as his cricketing career is concerned. He was a part of the Melbourne Renegades side that finished at the rock-bottom of the Big Bash League (BBL) points table for a third straight season. The opener then went unsold at the last month’s IPL 2022 mega auction.

Now, Finch has accepted that his First-Class career is all but over as he made it clear the will not be playing the format anymore. The 35-year-old said that he wants to make way for the emerging youngsters since he no longer represents the Aussies in Test cricket. Finch played his last Test against India in December 2018 which happened to be the Boxing Day Test at the iconic MCG.

There’s no point me taking up a youngster’s spot: Aaron Finch

“I don’t think I’ll play again. There’s no point, I’m not going to play Test cricket again so the younger guys in our squad, there’s some really talented players, so there’s no point me taking up one of those spots when they can be getting really valuable game time. I love playing red-ball cricket, but it’s just reality”, said Finch as quoted by cricket.com.au. “Unless you’re pushing for a Test match, I don’t really see the point to be honest.”

The Victorian cricketer has not been in Australia’s scheme of things in the longest format ever since that 2018-19 Boxing Day Test against the Virat Kohli-led India. He has been an excellent white-ball captain for the five-time world champions having led them to the semifinals of the 2019 World Cup in the UK and a World T20 victory in the UAE a couple of years later.

The senior batter has scored 278 runs in five Test appearances averaging 27.80 including two half-centuries with his highest score being 62. He will next be seen in action during the limited-overs series against Pakistan that succeeds the three-match Test series where he will be leading the Aussies. Finch would be hoping for Australia’s successful title defence as captain in the T20 World Cup that will be played in their own backyard in October-November this year.