Finn hoping to have found solution

21 April 2015 06:17

Steven Finn hopes he is close at last to solving the riddle of how he lost his form as a Test fast bowler - and how to get it back.

Finn, 26 earlier this month, last played Test cricket in July 2013.

Although he returned to one-day international action during England's miserable World Cup winter, for the first time since his 2010 debut tour he was not selected for a Test trip when the current squad was named to go to the West Indies.

As he watches England's progress from afar in the three-match series, the Middlesex paceman is determined to revisit his best in time to be in contention again for the Ashes this summer.

Finn unsurprisingly traces the source of his problems to shortening his run, at the suggestion of England bowling coach David Saker, two winters ago - but blames no one but himself for the costly decisions he made back then.

"The short run got canned quite quickly after it came in," he said.

"I think that's what cocked me up really - looking back at it, coming off a short run made everything tense and made me force bowling quick.

"It worked for a brief time in New Zealand.

"I didn't quite have the feeling of bowling well, but I was getting the results - so it was masked over.

"I bowled quick and troubled good players, but in the long run it wasn't good for me.

"The short-term fix wasn't a fix to the long-term problem.

"It's taken a bit of unravelling, but it's no-one's fault other than mine."

The remedial work has been lengthy, but Finn is starting to believe he has a lasting solution - thanks to much perusal of video footage of him at his best.

His running style, on approach to the crease, could provide the previously elusive solution.

"I came back to England and had to realign everything, but it's not easy once you've grooved bad habits," he said.

"It's taken a long time, but this running thing could be the last piece in the puzzle.

"You can see when I was running up as a carefree 21-year-old, I just legged it to the crease - it was natural.

"As I've had to think about other things, there's been tension that has come into my run-up."

Finn has had an unenviable experience, notably when England's former limited-overs coach Ashley Giles described him as "unselectable" before he returned home early from the ODI leg of the 2013/14 Ashes.

He added: "When Ashley Giles said that I don't think he meant it in a horrible way or a nasty way.

"To come home from that tour was the right decision in my opinion - it could have happened earlier, to be honest."

Another year on, still 10 short of 100 Test wickets, he remains down the pecking order.

"I've had my trials and tribulations over the last 12 months or so . I suppose I'm being judged on how I bowled in the one-day competitions over the winter," he said.

"Even though I felt okay and got wickets, there was obviously something missing that the selectors wanted to see from me.

"They just said 'there's not a lot you're doing wrong, but you're in a pack, you're not one of the 'stand-out' bowlers at the moment. You're in a pack with the supporting cast .'.

"It's up to me to try to turn that round and make myself one of the guys who is picked automatically.

"It hurts not to be there but I can only try to learn from it and get better.

"I'm gutted I'm not in the West Indies, helping England win games of cricket, but [being here at Middlesex] is the next best thing."

No one can accuse Finn of dodging personal responsibility for his own situation.

"Coaches only ever want to help you out," he said.

"There's no coach in the world who has bad intentions.

"It's up to the player to filter that - that's part of the skill of being a good player - knowing what's relevant and what's irrelevant.

"You can be polite and say thanks, but you don't do it.

"It's only my over-thinking of things that got me to where I was.

"But you learn from your mistakes."

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Source: PA