Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Steven Finn hoping to draw inspiration from teammates James Anderson and Stuart Broad in hope of an England return

Finn returned home from Australia after failing to make an appearance due to concerns over his bowling technique

Agency
Friday 17 January 2014 09:35 GMT
Comments
Steven Finn has returned to the UK from England's Tour of Australia
Steven Finn has returned to the UK from England's Tour of Australia (GETTY IMAGES)

Steven Finn is looking to take inspiration from fellow fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad as he tries to regain his place in the England team.

The Middlesex paceman is set to return home from the tour of Australia on Friday with limited-overs coach Ashley Giles labelling him "not selectable" due to technical problems with his bowling action.

Finn, who has 90 wickets in 23 Test matches, has failed to make a competitive appearance this winter, missing out on selection for all five Ashes matches and the first one-day international before the decision was made for him to return to England.

In his absence, Anderson struggled in the England attack, taking just 14 wickets at an average of 43.92, while Broad was the tourists' top wicket-taker with 21.

Both men, barring injury and rotation, will continue to lead England's fast-bowling ranks this year and Anderson can provide particular hope for Finn after experiencing his own international troubles early in his career.

The Lancashire seamer made his one-day debut in 2003 aged just 20 and due to a combination of form and fitness drifted in and out of the team in all formats until he became a one-day mainstay in 2007.

A regular Test place followed and since then the 31-year-old has gone on to become England's all-time highest wicket-taker, with Finn hoping that his own recent struggles will also prove to be just a bump in the road.

"You're always learning as a young fast bowler, your body is developing, I'm still 24 and my body is developing at quite a rate still," he told http://www.ecb.co.uk.

"It can be quite a hard thing, fast bowling at a young age, and as we've seen the world-class bowlers get more consistent as they get older.

"It's good for me to know that that's happened to people in the past.

"You look at Jimmy and Broady, they are just incredible bowlers and they are people that I look up to. I'd love to be playing in a seam attack with those two for a few years to come.

"Looking at the way those guys' careers have developed and the way that they are high quality, top-class, international performers gives me hope and gives me a lot of motivation to know that I've still got a long time, hopefully, in this game and a long time to play games of cricket for England."

Finn admits it is unlikely that he will make England's squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies or the Twenty20 World Cup and is now aiming to get some county cricket under his belt before the ODIs against Sri Lanka in May.

"It's going to be good for me to go back to Middlesex and get really stuck into winning games of cricket for Middlesex and try and play a big part in starting the season really well," he said.

"It's going to be nice to have that focus for me, that I've got a focus outside of playing cricket for England at the moment and that will be getting back to Middlesex and taking wickets for Middlesex.

"That's how it all started for me really, I got picked for an England Lions tour on the back of having a good season for Middlesex and as a result of that ended up making my Test debut six months later."

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in