He says the 200-mile round trip from his home in Driffield, east Yorkshire, to Barney has taken its toll and was simply “too much” to continue playing at the club.
Instead, both he and close friend and opening batsman Simon Tennant have signed for Woodhouse Grange CC in the Yorkshire Premier League.
Mr Finch said he left Barney with good memories and wishing all at the club nothing but the best for the future.
Looking back on his time, he said winning the Kerridge Cup and taking the NYSD Premier Division title were the two obvious stand-out moments and the culmination of a lot of hard work.
He said he came to Barney almost by chance.
It was while working for Yorkshire County Cricket Club on the academy coaching staff that he learned the club was looking for a pro.
“This was in the March. I was probably not going to play cricket that season. I had never even heard of Barnard Castle before then,” he said.
“I liked the place and thought I was going to play for that season and see how it went.”
As a result, he returned the following year for the first of six seasons as captain. At the time he was living in Leeds, but moved to Driffield two years ago with his partner – adding the best part of an hour each way onto the journey.
“I fell in love with the place. I am devastated to be leaving. The journey's too much. The late nights driving back have been a nightmare. If it was closer to home, I would be there for life,” added Mr Finch.
He signed off after another good season with bat and ball, scoring 865 runs at 41.19 with a top score of 113 not out and taking 56 wickets at 22.02 with a best of 5-30 in all competitions. Having arrived at the club “as a bowler who could bat a bit” he said he had been surprised by the quantity of runs he had racked up.
“I have worked really hard on my batting. I started down at seven and eight and finished up batting at four this year.”
Rather than single out any one innings, he said being able to make some runs to help win a game gave him more satisfaction.
“From a wickets point of view, I was always confident I would get 50 wickets a season.”
In signing for Woodhouse Grange, in York, he said he had chosen a club similar in many ways to Barney.
“It is a traditional and quite small club punching above its weight. I am very pleased to have found a club which has quite similar values.
“I am sad to be going. There are a whole lot of people up at Barney who have been very good to me and my family that I will miss.
“A lot of people have said some really nice things about us and it’s the same in reverse. I could not speak any higher of Barnard Castle CC. It’s been the best seven years of my cricketing life.
“If Woodhouse Grange turns out to be half the club Barney is, I will be delighted.
“I will 100 per cent keep an eye on how Barney go next season. I will keep in touch.”
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