Melbourne Renegades retire Number 5 jersey as Aaron Finch bids farewell to BBL

Big Bash League (BBL) franchise Melbourne Renegades have retired the Number 5 jersey to honor Aaron Finch, who is calling time on his T20 career on Saturday (January 13).

Finch has been part of the team since the inception of the league and also captained them for nine seasons between BBL 2 and BBL 10. He did not play for any other team in the Big Bash.

The veteran opener led the Melbourne Renegades to their only title win in the 2018-19 season. He played his final professional cricket game today, representing the Renegades for one last time. It was not a memorable farewell as Finch got out for a three-ball duck against Melbourne Stars and walked off to a standing ovation.

Across 107 games in BBL, Aaron Finch amassed 3,311 runs at an average of 34.85, including two centuries and 26 half-centuries. He also picked up five wickets with his left-arm spin.

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"To drag it back and win that game was really special" - Aaron Finch on winning the BBL trophy by beating Melbourne Stars

Ahead of his farewell match, Aaron Finch reflected on his time with Melbourne Renegades and expressed gratitude for the opportunities. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, Finch said:

"When you're no longer captain, I guess that's taken out of your hands a bit as well because you're not in selection. It's been difficult no doubt. It's been something that I've been lucky with throughout my career actually that it hasn't happened a huge amount of times. But to finish up here at Marvel will be really special as well."

Reminiscing about the BBL title-winning campaign of Renegades during his captaincy, Finch added:

"The title win was unbelievable. Especially against the Stars in a game where they well and truly had one hand, almost two hands on the trophy, and to drag it back and win that game was really special."

It has been a difficult BBL 2023-24 season for Melbourne Renegades as they have already been eliminated from the race for the playoffs.