AN aggressive and uncomplicated batsman, Aaron Finch was equally larger than life off the field at Yorkshire.

It was clear the Australian overseas import who featured for a portion of their County Championship title-winning campaign lifted the dressing room.

Not only were his runs crucial, especially a scintillating hundred at Warwickshire, but so was his happy-go-lucky character.

Andrew Gale knew just what kind of person the White Rose were getting when they met for lunch in Melbourne last winter.

“Walking towards the restaurant, he was having a cigarette, chatting and bouncing around, and I thought straightaway he would fit in,” explained the skipper in the new book ‘Yorkshire - A Champion Year’.

“He ordered his burger and chips and kept disappearing for a cig, and I thought ‘we’ve got the new Darren Lehmann on our hands’.”

Finch, formerly of Clifton Alliance, quickly became known as Boof Two in homage to the Yorkshire legend and his current Australian coach.

A handful of incidents occurred during Finch’s Headingley stay through late May to the end of July, and make no mistake they were not frowned upon by the Yorkshire hierarchy.

Some other notable coaches would have been annoyed, but not Jason Gillespie, who firmly subscribes to the work hard, play hard philosophy.

Finch made an immediate impression on his team-mates.

It was the second night of the Roses Championship match at Headingley in late May and players from both teams had arranged a drink. It was Finch’s second night in England having just arrived from the Indian Premier League.

“We were batting the next day so I just had a pint and disappeared,” said Gale. “But when I got in the next day, Dizzy asked me if I’d heard what happened to Aaron.

“He was staying in an apartment and had snapped his keycard so couldn’t get in.

“He rang Dizzy about midnight because he didn’t know anyone else, but he couldn’t go and get him because he’d had a few pints. Dizzy’s wife had to get out of bed.

“They’ve got four kids she’s looking after, and now she has to drive down, pick him up, and they have to get one of the kids out of bed and put Finchy in there.

“By the time he woke up, Dizzy had already left, so the kids are prodding Finchy, asking who he is. He has some breakfast, comes to the ground and apologises straightaway to Dizzy, who loves that sort of stuff anyway.”

Fast forward to mid-June - Yorkshire are preparing for Sussex at Arundel, starting on a Monday.

They have beaten Northants in a Twenty20 at Wantage Road on the Friday and had a day out at Sandown Races planned on the Saturday.

Gale continued: “He’s very humble about where he’s come from and what he’s done, and he understands he earns some good money from the IPL and stuff.

“At Northants, he told the lads whatever they wanted was on him and put his credit card behind the bar. It wasn’t a huge amount to him, but it meant a lot to the lads.

“We had a day off the following day and were going to the races. He turned up with a pocketful of money and said he didn’t go to the races often, but when he did, he went big.

“We were all in a box filling out the Placepot coupons, and Finchy won his, winning about £2,500. He gave us a few hundred pounds for the end of season party and paid for a taxi into London for a night out. I think he took a couple of the lads with him.

“They didn’t get back until the early hours, and we were netting at Hove the following day.

“It wasn’t a problem because we were halfway through the season. The lads needed a bit of a blow-out.

“Dizzy asked Finchy what he wanted to do, did he want to have a net?

“Aaron just said ‘Dizzy, I’ve got to ask myself a question. Am I going to improve my skills today? The answer is ‘no’, so I am going to go and sleep’.”

- Yorkshire - A Champion Year is priced £30 and can be bought from www.yorkshireccc.com. Published by Well Done Media.