Aaron Finch stands down as Melbourne Renegades captain to spend more time with young family

The Australia T20 skipper has handed the reins over to Nic Maddinson ahead of the 2021-22 Big Bash campaign, which gets under way on December 5

Aaron Finch has stepped down as captain of Melbourne Renegades.

The Australia T20 skipper has handed the reins over to Nic Maddinson ahead of the 2021-22 Big Bash campaign, which gets under way on December 5. Renegades begin their fixture list on December 7.

Finch, who has led the Renegades for nine years, explained in a statement on Thursday how his family had been the reason behind his decision.

Maddinson, meanwhile, will miss the early matches of the term due to his involvement with Australia A.

Finch's statement read: "Captaining this side has been an enormous privilege for the last nine seasons. With a busy schedule leading into this T20 World Cup and a new young family, the time was right for me to hand over the reins from a captaincy perspective.

^{Nic Maddinson, who has joined Melbourne Renegades from Melbourne Stars, will take on the captaincy}

"One thing I’ve learnt over the time is you always need that injection of new talent in the leaders. 'Maddo' has captained at first-class and BBL level many times before and I’m very supportive of him getting this opportunity. Out in the field, we’ll all be out there to help and support him and ultimately aim for success in BBL11."

Maddinson takes on the role having only swapped city rivals Melbourne Stars for the Renegades ahead of the upcoming season.

He said: "It's a huge honour and a challenge I'm really looking forward to. It's a great group of players with some young guys mixed in with experienced players," Maddinson said.

"Taking over from someone like Finchy is a huge task but having him around to help out and be that experienced head will be a great plus for me."