Deserved break for star Finch

FITZROY Doncaster got Glenn Maxwell and Footscray Edgewater was boosted by the return of Travis Dean halfway through the round of Premier cricket semi-finals.

But there was no sign of Aaron Finch for Geelong as it crashed out in yesterday’s Premier cricket semi-finals.

The Cats revealed they were comfortable to play without the Australian limited-overs star, revealing a mutual decision was made to leave him out of the line-up to allow him to freshen up for the upcoming Indian Premier League and focus on his upcoming wedding.

“We made a decision, in consultation with him, to give him a break,” Cats coach Andre Borovec said.

“He’s had four years of rock-solid cricket and not a lot of time at home. He’s got a wedding coming up and it’s a pretty important time in his life.

“And of course he’s got the IPL coming up as well, which is an extremely hectic time as well.

“The decision we made was firstly made around him and his needs — and he needs a rest — but also around our team.

“We wanted to get experience around our batting group in a finals type situation and we would’ve lost a batsman to get that chance, so it was a combined decision.”

Borovec revealed that Finch didn’t flatly reject an opportunity to play, but was rather persuaded to sit out.

“I’ve always had a rule with Finchy that when he’s ready to play, he’ll call me,” Borovec said.

“It’s fair to say he’s had a hectic week with the Shield and the season ending a lot earlier than they would’ve liked. They needed time to debrief, and he’s a leader of that team — he’s the captain — so it’s not just a simple, clear-cut decision.”