Former Australian ODI and T20 captain Aaron Finch’s retirement, his hand in turning Glenn Maxwell’s into white ball great

Covid lockdowns weren’t great for international sport, but they did provide at least one positive – a conversation between Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell that turned Maxi’s career around.

Of the hundreds of conversations – some particularly difficult – Aaron Finch had with his players during his years as a club and then national captain, one stands out.

It was during Melbourne’s bitter Covid-19 lockdown of 2020. Finch, his former housemate and close friend Glenn Maxwell and then-Australian assistant coach Andrew McDonald were training at Junction Oval.

Maxwell was in a funk. Having never really got going during the 2019 World Cup, he was dropped from Australia’s one-day side in the aftermath. He soon took a mental health break from cricket, and come the time of the pandemic his international career had reached a crossroads.

Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch batting together during the 2022 T20 World Cup. Picture: Patrick Hamilton / AFP

For so long, Maxwell had been told that succeeding as a batter was about scoring bulk runs. To maximise his chance of doing that, he had to bat up the order. In his one-day international career to that point, Maxwell had regularly batted at No. 5 and sometimes even higher. It wasn’t working though.

Finch wanted to convince Maxwell that dropping down the order didn’t have to be viewed as a demotion. Easier said than done though, as Maxwell, carefree though he may appear at times, can be headstrong on such matters.

But this is where Finch’s interpersonal skills came to the fore. While he relished and succeeded in the analytical side of the game, it was his ability to build relationships that perhaps most helped him succeed as a skipper.

“If you’ve got a good relationship, everyone understands that nothing’s personal,” Finch told this masthead.

“And I was probably on the grumpy side … I mean Pat Cummins, he’s so chill all the time. That wasn’t me out on the field. But that’s not to say that was wrong or anything like that. But if you build good relationships with the people around you, your players, your coaches, all the staff then it becomes it becomes a lot easier because like I said nothing’s ever personal you know, everyone’s trying their best (and it) runs a bit more smoothly.”

So to that Maxwell conversation, and the subtle art of persuasion.

“We just decided that number seven was the right spot for him and that took a little bit of convincing for Maxi, wasn’t a straightforward conversation. Maxi can be as stubborn as I can. That has its benefits and drawbacks at times as well. But I mean, almost planting the seed for him to come around to the decision.”

Three years on, Maxwell’s exploits down the order, albeit at No. 6 rather than No. 7, went a long way to winning Australia the World Cup.

“Sometimes those conversations might take a week or two for the player to start coming around to it. They’re really rewarding ones because you know the direction that you want to go. It just takes a lot of work and sometimes a little bit of manipulation too.”

Finch needn’t play manipulator any longer. He is no longer a captain, and as of Sunday he will effectively be an ex-cricketer, with the 37-year-old set to bow out from the Big Bash League in Saturday night’s derby featuring his Renegades and Maxwell’s Stars.

Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell following the Renegades’ 2019 BBL championship victory over the Stars. Picture: Michael Klein

The former skipper’s retirement has been typically modern in its phases. First he faded away from long-form cricket a couple of years after his brief Test stint. Then came his ODI retirement in 2022, Twenty20 international curtain draw the following year, and finally the end of his playing days in the BBL, leaving him only with legends leagues and cameo involvements to come.

It has not been an ideal final season, with the Renegades floundering despite an impressive recruiting haul and Finch’s output well down too. He knows the time is right.

“When you call it quits on your international career, I think you want to do your best to try and I guess try and help educate the youngsters as much as you can. I think it’s time to definitely pass the baton over to the youngsters of the group.”

Among those youngsters are Jake Fraser-McGurk, the batting whiz-kid who stands to make a killing on the white-ball circuit but remains determined to earn a baggy green.

It is heartening for Finch, a white-ball specialist whose five-Test career came and went within three months at the end of 2018.

“Playing Test cricket is still the ultimate and I think that that also helps your shorter-form game as well. You still have to have a reasonably sound technique to play T20,” Finch said.

“I think the fundamentals of the game are still the same and to aspire to play Test cricket, for your country is still the ultimate. It’s called Test cricket for a reason it’s something that I absolutely was passionate about trying to improve that part of my game more than any other for the majority of my career.

Aaron Finch during his five Test career in 2018. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“It was just reality, five Tests was probably my limit.”

A T20 World Cup winning captain in 2021, Finch’s most remarkable victory as leader came two years earlier when the Renegades came back from the brink to beat the Stars in the BBL final at Docklands in what remains the sole title for a Victorian Big Bash league club in either the men’s or women’s competitions.

Chasing 146 to win, the Stars were 0-93 before losing 7-19 as the Renegades prevailed by 13 runs.

“The more you think about it, the more it was just an unbelievable belief within the group that no matter what situation we were in, and (we were) in some average situations right throughout that season. But just the belief in the group to win from any position was really strong. And I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got a lot of experienced players around the group who have seen most things in the game. And it’s not a false confidence. It’s a genuine confidence in each other and you in just everyone’s ability to make the right decision at the right time. And that definitely happened that day. Some things fell our way no doubt. But I think that throughout the course of the season, we pushed really hard to make sure that that was that was something that we kept winning the really small battles within each game.”

Glenn Maxwell and then housemate Aaron Finch early in their respective international careers.

Finch – who was coming up through the ranks in Victoria during the Bushrangers’ early T20 dynasty – can’t put his finger on why the Stars and Renegades haven’t been able to come close to matching the dominance of those Vic sides in the state Big Bash.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure. I don’t have an answer for you, that’s above my paygrade and I have been one that stayed out of any kind of politics within organisations and stuff like that. So I don’t know a huge amount about it. I was obviously disappointed when the two boards split because I think both teams were really successful at the time. But it just yet I’m not sure what can be done to be honest,” Finch said.

Having already transitioned into the commentary box, Finch says he is interested in coaching down the track.

If he had his time again, he would not tinker as much with his game, believing he chased perfection that was probably unobtainable.

“(Steve) Smith and (David) Warner, playing with those guys for a majority of my career, I was just so envious of how easy they could make batting look. Michael Clarke (too).”

Originally published as Former Australian ODI and T20 captain Aaron Finch’s retirement, his hand in turning Glenn Maxwell’s into white ball great