Steven Finn has been tipped to emerge from the shadows of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad by his bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, having been the pick of England’s illness-affected attack on the first day of the third Test in Johannesburg.
The 26-year-old claimed figures of two for 50 – including a stunning delivery to have Hashim Amla caught behind – as South Africa reached 267 for seven by the close on a pitch offering pace and bounce to the fast bowlers.
“I’m very impressed with him; since he came back into the side last summer he’s certainly proved himself to be an outstanding fast bowler,” said Gibson. “There’s a lot said about Broad and Anderson with over 700 Test wickets between them but when Finn gets the ball in his hand he looks a quality bowler as well. He can play a huge role for England in the coming years.”
While South Africa were forced to fly in Dane Vilas from Port Elizabeth, 600 miles away, on the morning of the match, following a freak knee injury to the first-choice wicketkeeper, Quinton de Kock – sustained while walking his dogs – it was England who looked most impeded on a hard-fought first day.
A stomach virus has lingered in the camp since the second Test in Cape Town and while England have not named those still affected, Broad is understood to have left the field to be sick during proceedings.
The batsmen Nick Compton and Alex Hales were doubts going into the match, the latter with tonsillitis, and the captain, Alastair Cook, admitted at the toss that a number of his players were “climbing out of their death beds to play”.
Gibson was keen to play down the issue after stumps, saying: “There are some people under the weather but we are trying hard not to dwell on it. We don’t want that to be an excuse. There has been a bug going around since Cape Town. Some people are not 100% but we have forged on and I think we had a good day.”
The late arrival of Vilas, who reached the ground an hour into play, led to suggestions that South Africa’s new captain, AB de Villiers, had opted to bat under overcast skies due to the delay.
The opener Dean Elgar, who made 46, said: “I know our captain’s first choice was batting and he would have stuck with it regardless.”
