Steven Finn

Steven Finn

Personal information
Full name	Steven Thomas Finn
Born	4 April 1989 (age 23) Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Nickname	Finny
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm fast
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 647)	2 March 2010 v Bangladesh
Last Test	2 August 2012 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 218)	30 January 2011 v Australia
Last ODI	31 August 2012 v South Africa
ODI shirt no.	25
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2005–present	Middlesex (squad no. 9)
2011	Otago Volts
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	15	21	76	63
Runs scored	37	62	405	117
Batting average	9.25	20.66	6.86	9.00
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0
Top score	19	35	32	35
Balls bowled	2,769	1,162	13,467	2,848
Wickets	58	38	277	93
Bowling average	29.46	23.73	27.81	25.04
5 wickets in innings	3	0	7	1
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	1	n/a
Best bowling	6/125	4/34	9/37	5/33
Catches/stumpings	4/–	4/-	25/–	8/–
Source: CricInfo, 7 August 2012

Steven Thomas Finn (born 4 April 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. Educated at Parmiter's School in Garston, at the age of 16 Finn became Middlesex County Cricket Club's youngest debutant in first-class cricket, beating the record set by Fred Titmus in 1949. Standing 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall, Finn, a former county basketball player, made his England Test cricket debut in 2010 against Bangladesh and after an impressive first summer in the national team in which he took 32 wickets at an average of 23.21, he was named Best Emerging Player at the 2010 ICC Awards.^[1] The following year Finn became the youngest Englishman to reach 50 Test wickets.

Domestic cricket

Finn made his first-class debut for Middlesex on 1 June 2005, playing against Cambridge UCCE at Fenner's.^[2] He took 1 wicket for 16 runs (1/16) and 1/37 and did not bat. He became Middlesex's youngest debutant, beating the record set by 16-year-old Fred Titmus in 1949.

International career

Youngest Englishman to 50 Test wickets

Finn toured South Africa with the England Under-16 squad in 2005. He played in two Under-19 Test matches and three Under-19 ODIs against the Indian side that toured England in 2006, and in seven Under-19 ODIs in Malaysia in early 2007.
In February and March 2010, he was part of the England Lions team to tour the United Arab Emirates, earning selection with a solid 2009 season of 53 wickets at 30.64.^[3] He impressed the selectors, and was short-listed for the 2009 World Twenty20 though was not picked for the final team.^[3] When the senior squad's bowling attack was restricted by injury at the beginning of the 2010 Bangladesh tour, he was flown in as bowling cover. He played a tour match the day after arriving, and took three wickets in some economical spells of bowling across the two innings, and subsequently leapfrogged Liam Plunkett and Ajmal Shahzad to be picked for the first Test match on 12 March 2010. He was aged just 20, and became the 647th man to play Test cricket for England.^[3][4]

Finn bowling against Sri Lanka in June 2011

He played in both Test matches, which England won by 181 runs and 10 wickets respectively. His first wicket was Bangladeshi batsman Shahadat Hossain, who was caught by Paul Collingwood, and proceeded to take one wicket in each of the four Bangladeshi innings. A double declaration by England in the first Test meant that he wasn't required to bat until the second Test where he finished unbeaten on 0 from 10 balls.^[5][6]
After an impressive start to the County season, including a 14-wicket match haul, he was chosen again to face Bangladesh, this time in England. In the first match at Lord's, his home debut, he took a 5-wicket-haul in the second innings as England won by eight wickets, finishing with nine wickets in the match. In doing so was compared to Angus Fraser and Glenn McGrath by many media pundits, although he also worried them by frequently falling over in his follow-through.^[7] Nevertheless he went on to Old Trafford to take a second five-for, being named Player of the Series in his debutante international home season.^[8]
Finn was not selected for the ODI series against Australia and Bangladesh, but returned for the Test series against Pakistan. Finn was quietly effective; though he did not bowl as much as fellow pace-bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, he picked up 13 wickets at an average of 22.92. Finn was also part of a useful 49-run unbeaten last-wicket partnership with Matt Prior in the first Test, which enabled Prior to reach a century despite only having 63 runs when Finn came to the crease. England won the series 3-1, though the series ended amid newspaper allegations of spot-fixing involving several members of the Pakistan team.
Finn's performances during the summer saw him selected for England's squad for the 2010-11 Ashes series and he won the Best Emerging Player award at the 2010 ICC Awards.^[9] Chosen for the first Test at The Gabba in Brisbane, Finn took his first Ashes wicket catching Simon Katich off his own bowling. He later took the wickets of several of the Australian tail to finish with Test-best figures of 6-125, his third five wicket haul in only his ninth Test. He took a further 8 wickets in the next two Tests, as England won in Adelaide before Australia squared the series at Perth. Despite being the leading wicket taker in the series for either side after 3 Tests, Finn was rested for the fourth Test, which England won. His replacement, Tim Bresnan, impressed in the fourth Test and kept his place for the fifth Test as England won both games by an innings to record a 3-1 victory – their first in Australia for 24 years. Finn finished with 14 wickets at an average of 33.14. Although he wasn't initially included in the limited overs squads, he was added as cover for the rested James Anderson for the two Twenty20 internationals and the first three ODI matches. On 30 January 2011 he made his ODI debut taking 1/61 off his 10 overs and scoring 35 runs as number 11 with a late flurry at the end of England's innings in a partnership of 53 with James Anderson.

Finn bowling at Lord's in June 2011 against Sri Lanka

Having been dropped from the Test side during the Ashes, Finn faced competition from fast bowlers such as Bresnan and Shahzad to break into the team.^[10] When Sri Lanka toured in May Finn was included in the Test squad, though missed out on selection for the first match. An injury to James Anderson opened up a gap in England's bowling attack and Finn was chosen as his replacement.^[11] England's fast bowlers struggled to dismiss Sri Lanka, but Finn took 4/108 and in the process became the youngest player to reach 50 Test wickets for England.^[12][13] Anderson returned to fitness in time for the next Test and Finn was dropped to make room for him. Finn was subsequently dropped from the Test squad to face India in July in favour of Tim Bresnan but recalled as cover for the injured Chris Tremlett ahead of the third Test, though he did not play.^[14][15] Towards the end of the season, Finn's bowling was frequently reaching 90 miles per hour (145 km/h).^[16] He played three ODIs during England's 2011 home season, taking four wickets.^[17]
When England toured India in October for five ODIs, senior fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad were absent, rested and injured respectively. Finn was included in the squad.^[18] Finn finished as England's leading wicket-taker in the series with 8 dismissals at an average of 31.62.^[19] Commenting on Finn's performance in the series, which England lost 5–0, coach Andy Flower said "Coming into the series he wasn't a first-choice limited-overs cricketer for us. But he has been the outstanding bowler in our side."^[20] After the tour Finn exploited a gap in England's international schedule to join Otago to gain experience.^[21]

Bowling style

Writing in 2012 during England's tour of the UAE where they faced Pakistan, George Dobell wrote of Finn

He has pace and height. He has an easy, repeatable action. He has stamina and strength and, now, he seems to have developed the skills to trouble good batsmen on good surfaces. It is not that he has just learned how to swing and reverse swing the ball, or that he now seems to gain more seam movement, it is that he has put the whole package together and added the vital ingredient – consistency – to his game. ... He has maintained a horrid, nagging length that has left batsmen unsure whether to play forward or back, he has nipped the ball both ways off the seam and gained some swing. And he has done it all at pace. He has regularly exceeded 90mph [145km/h] and left a batsman as experienced as Younis Khan saying how surprised – and impressed – he was with Finn's aggression and hostility.

Statistics

Five or more wickets in an innings

Date	Opponent	Ground	Record/Scorecards
27 May 2010	Bangladesh	Lords, London, England	Bowling: 5/87
13 March 2010	Bangladesh	Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England	Bowling: 5/42
26 November 2010	Australia	The Gabba, Brisbane, Australia	Bowling: 6/125