Steven Finn’s summons to the Champions Trophy squad was confirmed on Sunday and he was understandably delighted that he has been chosen to replace Chris Woakes. But being a conscientious student of the game he must be aware that he has not been invited to a picnic for bowlers.
So far it has been a batsman’s tournament between the exasperating showers. The pitches have been brown and true and the ball has declined to deviate. Often bowlers have been in survival mode and Finn’s experience made him the more obvious choice ahead of Tom Curran or Toby Roland-Jones.
Finn made his one-day international debut six years ago; has 69 matches under his belt and he was in England’s Champions Trophy squad in 2013 when he played one game against South Africa.
“It’s great to be here,” Finn said on arrival at a damp Cardiff. “It is obviously very sad for Chris Woakes, who is a good friend of mine, but I’m glad I have got the call. I’ve been on the periphery for a little while. You have always got a point to prove when you have been out of the team.”
The problem for the bowlers has been avoiding the middle of the bat. Moreover the middle of today’s bats occupies far more space than it did in the 20th century. There are two ways to do it: by lateral movement which can be achieved by seam, spin or swing, or by exceptional/ uneven bounce which can cause the ball to hit the bottom or shoulder of the bat and go nowhere.
So far there has been minimal swing, seam or spin, which helps to explain the absence of David Willey and Adil Rashid from England’s team at The Oval against Bangladesh. The current batch of white balls stubbornly refuse to swing and this is a source of frustration for such as Willey as well as being a minor stain on the tournament. It is a better game when the bowlers have a chance at some point in the innings.
This state of affairs makes tall bowlers who can gain exceptional bounce more appealing to on-field captains, who have often been as harassed as the poor groundsmen heaving the covers on and off. Finn at his best can hit the shoulder of the bat; two years ago he was arguably England’s premier one-day bowler, who was regularly tossed the new ball. Then he did not play a game between September 2015 and March 2017. Now it is just conceivable that, having been brought into the squad, Finn could play against New Zealand on Tuesday ahead of Jake Ball, who has conceded more than 80 runs in two of his last three outings, and Willey.
Off the field Finn is a mild-mannered, contemplative man (on it he is no Dennis Lillee) but he is prepared to outline what he brings to the squad. “I think I’ve got a good record in one-day cricket,” he says. “I am slightly taller than the other guys and can therefore get a bit more bounce. I’ve played a lot of ODIs. There is experience there. I think we have got a really well balanced squad and hopefully my personal attributes can bring something to that.”
He has seldom been regarded as a miserly bowler yet his economy rate compares well with those of his peers (in fact it is much better than that of any other bowler in the squad) but that is partly explained by his longevity – there has been hyper-inflation in run-scoring over the past 18 months. But he does satisfy the demands of the modern ODI game since he has always been a wicket-taker.
“Taking wickets is always something I try to do,” he explains, which sounds an obvious thing to say but has a particular significance in the context of ODI cricket. “I never take a backward step or try to be negative or defensive. I think trying to take wickets is the mantra we have tried to adopt as a one-day bowling side and I can help that.”
On Saturday he was playing for the England Lions against South Africa A and he was aware that he was under scrutiny after the injury to Woakes. In a straightforward victory he finished with two for 49 from 8.3 overs.
“I knew James Whitaker and Mick Newell were there,” he said. “You feel that pressure knowing that they are watching you to call you up for this game. But that is no different from every time I pull on an England or Lions shirt. I had a bit of a stiff back in the Lions game at Nottingham on Thursday so it was a case of making sure my back was 100%. So it was a mixture of seeing my fitness and how I was bowling. If I had bowled a big pile of garbage, then I wouldn’t be standing here now.”
