AARON Finch's spell as Yorkshire's overseas star was definitely a win-win for the uncomplicated Australian batsman.

Not only did Finch contribute heavily to the county's first LV= County Championship title since 2001 with runs and his experience in the dressing room, but he also enjoyed a nice little bonus off the field.

Finch, now Australia's Twenty20 captain, and his team-mates were afforded a rare day off in the hectic county schedule as they prepared for a four-day clash against Sussex at Arundel, which stared on Monday, June 16.

They had just beaten Northamptonshire in a T20 Blast match at Wantage Road on the Friday and had a day at Sandown races planned for the Saturday. Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale takes up the story.

"Aaron'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," Gale says in the new book 'Yorkshire – A Champion Year'.

"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 (coach Jason Gillespie) 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'."

Finch scored an impressive 291 runs in five County Championship matches at an average of 48.50, including a crucial century against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

* Yorkshire – A Champion Year, published by Well Done media, is priced £30 and can be bought from www.yorkshireccc.com.