Photo Credit: Melbourne Renegades
Aaron Finch and Sophie Molineux have taken out the Melbourne Renegades top honours, winning the BBL and WBBL Player of the Season Awards respectively.
Finch becomes a five-time winner of the award – having previously been named the club’s Player of the Season in BBL|01, BBL|02, BBL|03 and BBL|06 – with Molineux adding a second award to the one she won in WBBL|04.
In a much-improved BBL campaign where the team returned to the finals, Finch was a standout performer.
Settling into a new role at number four – and returning to the captaincy halfway through the season following a knee injury to Nic Maddinson – Finch produced a stellar campaign with the bat.
He was the competition’s fourth-highest run scorer (428 runs), was named captain of the Team of the Tournament and finished third in the Player of the Tournament award.
Finch made a habit of producing match-winning performances – notably in run chases against the Brisbane Heat, Sydney Thunder and against the Adelaide Strikers, to see the team seal a finals berth.
He also became the first player to reach 100 games for the Renegades during the course of the season, and has re-signed with the club until the end of BBL|14.
Molineux, in her second season as WBBL captain, again led from the front and made contributions with bat and ball.
She was the team’s equal leading wicket-taker (11), despite missing the last two matches after sustaining an ACL injury.
Molineux earned Player of the Match honours in two winning performances, helping the team start its campaign well with 4-23 and 32 runs against the Adelaide Strikers, before scoring an unbeaten 55 in a run chase against the Sydney Thunder.
The foundation Renegade has now played 99 games for the club and is set to become the second player to reach the milestone on her return from injury next season.
The Melbourne Renegades Player of the Season Awards are voted on by the club’s members.
Name of Author: Melbourne Renegades
Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men’s Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, Australia. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League.