Ashes 2015: We chart Steven Finn's up-and-down Test career
From despair down under to a corking Edgbaston comeback...
Tuesday 4 August 2015 16:50, UK
Steve Finn must be feeling on top of the world after snaring eight wickets at Edgbaston on his return to Test cricket.
The 26-year-old tore Australia’s batting line-up to shreds as England bulldozed their way into a 2-1 Ashes lead – but Finn hasn’t always found the Test game so joyous.
With the help of Sky Sports pundit Bob Willis – a man who knows a thing or two about seam bowling, of course – we examine Finn’s highs and lows in an England flannel…
Taming the Tigers
Finn made his England bow in Bangladesh in March 2010, the Middlesex man a late call-up to the squad after Ryan Sidebottom and Graham Onions suffered injury scares. Having impressed in a tour game, Finn was thrust into the five-day arena, taking a wicket in each of the Tigers' four innings across the two Tests, which England won convincingly. Having had a glimpse of Finn’s ability, Bangladesh were blown away by him when they headed to England, the Watford-born quick pocketing 15 scalps throughout the two games, including a pair of five-wicket hauls, as he was named Man of the Series. Finn carried on that form in England’s subsequent Test triumphs over Pakistan to embed himself alongside James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the seam attack.
BOB WILLIS: “It wasn’t just in these matches that I thought Finn had something special, I’d seen him bowl in a 40-over match when he must have been about 18 and been mightily impressed. He had the happy knack of taking wickets even back then and his pace was something we don’t often see in England. Since myself 30 years ago, we have only had Devon Malcolm, Darren Gough and Steven Harmison who bowl at express speed so when one comes along you do get quite excited.”
Ashes highs – and lows
Standing 6ft 7in tall and having the ability to extract prodigious bounce from a pitch, Finn seemed like he would be a lethal weapon for England down under in their bid to retain the urn. And so it proved, with the paceman seizing a six-for in the opening encounter at The Gabba – Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey among his victims - and being the top wicket-taker in the series, with 14 at an average of 33.14, after the third Test. However, deemed too expensive by the England hierarchy – a 15-over stint in Perth where he went at nearly six runs per over doing him no favours – Finn was dropped for Tim Bresnan for the remaining two games and forced to watch on as the tourists recorded innings wins at Melbourne and Sydney to prevail in Australia for the first time in 24 years.
BOB WILLIS: “I thought it was a very peculiar decision to axe Finn during The Ashes. You can’t really argue with it as England won the series but I felt a great deal of sympathy for him. In some ways, I guess he was punished for being too nice – as England were a very tight unit back then he probably took the demotion on the chin rather than caused a ruction or a disruption and implored to be kept in the side, something other more boisterous characters may have opted to do.”
Ins, outs and knocking off bails
Finn didn’t have to wait too long for a Test recall, an injury to James Anderson the following summer allowing him to return against Sri Lanka and become the youngest England bowler to fifty Test wickets, the then-22-year-old seamer pipping a certain Sir Ian Botham to that accolade. Anderson reached full fitness, however, and immediately replaced Finn in the side. It was the beginning of a frustrating period for Finn, who struggled to command a regular spot in the team with Bresnan continuing to bloom and Chris Tremlett still around. He impressed against a power-packed South Africa in the summer of 2012 – taking eight wickets in the Lord’s Test – but his habit of knocking off the bails at the non-striker’s end with his knee as he ran into bowl was a concern.
BOB WILLIS: “Bail-gate was something I feel then South Africa captain Graeme Smith used to knock Finn off his stride – he said he was being unsettled by Finn hitting the stumps but bowlers have been doing that in one way or another for as long as the game has been played, albeit normally with the hand. That was the start of Finn’s big problems, as to avoid connecting with the bails he used to veer off quickly and would go headlong on his face four or five times during an innings.”
Tinker time
Finn adopted a truncated run-up to try and combat his bail flicking and it wasn’t entirely without success, the bowler picking up 10 wickets during England’s three-Test tour of New Zealand in March 2013. That said, his pace was way down on what we’d come to expect and, as Finn explained earlier this year, his shortened approach to the crease led to him feeling “tense” and “forced me into bowling quick.” He had a reasonable summer as Alastair Cook’s charges knocked off New Zealand and Australia, but any thoughts of Finn returning to his best were shattered when, after he failed to make an appearance during England’s horrific Ashes whitewash in 2013-14, he was sent home before the one-day leg of the tour after being deemed “un-selectable” by Ashley Giles.
BOB WILLIS: “Finn really didn’t look too threatening in New Zealand, wickets aside. My Sky Sports colleague Michael Holding will tell you a run-up is key for rhythm and acceleration, especially for someone like Steven who doesn’t have a slingy action. Finn’s run-up didn’t have that metronomic feel and it looked like it required far too much effort to get the ball from A to B. Add in a possible lack of confidence after being in and out of the side and it’s not hard to see why he felt rough.”
Australian horror show
Giles’ comments seemed harsh but they were backed up by Sky Sports’ David “Bumble” Lloyd” who wrote in his blog at the time: “I've seen Steven in the nets and at times he's virtually walked up to the stumps rather than run in hard. My information now (and it is second-hand) is that he's got the bowling 'yips' and can't get the ball from one end to the other.” England didn’t jettison Finn completely, though, and he was back in the one-day format towards the end of the 2014 summer. There was still something lacking, however, and that was evident in the 2015 World Cup as he was taken apart by Brendon McCullum – the bombastic New Zealand captain the main reason Finn shipped a whopping 49 runs from two overs during England’s Wellington walloping.
BOB WILLIS: “There was clearly a fear that we might not see Finn again in Test cricket. I didn’t go through something similar – injuries, rather than rhythm was my biggest issue – but I know how depressing it can be to miss cricket and not feel your best. A lesser man may have fallen into a fit of depression but it’s testament to Finn and Middlesex bowling coach Richard Johnson, who I know has had a big impact on his career, that he came through his travails and returned to Test cricket.”
Triumphant comeback
As Bob mentioned, realigning with Johnson helped Finn come back strong, the seamer bowling with pace and control in the County Championship and, with Mark Wood troubled by an ankle injury ahead of the third Ashes Test, returning to the longest form of the game for the first time in two years. It was a chance Finn would not let slip. He sent Steve Smith and Michael Clarke packing in the first innings and then claimed Test-best figures of 6-79 second time around as England annihilated the Baggy Greens inside three days at Edgbaston. Finn - whose delivery to castle Clarke was a thing of absolute beauty – now has the best strike rate of any post-war England bowler to deliver a minimum of 2,000 balls and you get the feeling he is here to stay.
BOB WILLIS: “He now has a much smoother, straighter approach to the crease and as England’s fastest bowler I hope he gets hold of the precious jewel that is the new ball, whether that be at Trent Bridge in James Anderson’s absence or down the road when Anderson has retired. In the context of today’s ultra-aggressive Test cricket, where batting sides are going at 4.5 runs per over, his figures stand up against anyone’s and he is now approaching his best years as a bowler.”
Catch the fourth Ashes Test from Trent Bridge live on Sky Sports Ashes HD from 10am on Thursday. You can also watch the fourth Test with a NOW TV Sports Day Pass. Plus, our Ashes Events Centre - the best of Sky Cricket's analysis at your fingertips - is available on our iPad app.
Bob Willis will be offering his inimitable Ashes thoughts throughout the fourth Test on The Ashes Verdict, which is on at 9pm on Sky Sports Ashes after every day at Trent Bridge.
