Steven Finn: Fast, rampant, well and truly back in the wickets

NICK FRIEND AT RADLETT: As Finn ran through Gloucestershire’s top order, he did so with the same rhythmical, fiery gusto that saw him burst onto the scene

There are few more heartening sights in English cricket than that of Steven Finn hurtling to the crease; fearless, fast, unfussed, untroubled.

Rarely since winning the T20 Blast back in 2008 have Middlesex resembled a unit of such pinpoint cohesion. In last year’s competition, they became whipping boys, routinely brushed aside in front of capacity crowds at Lord’s.

There was a palpable lack of clarity to much of what Daniel Vettori’s side was looking to achieve; bowlers were flogged; batsmen flattered to deceive; overseas players struggled to make any meaningful impact.

This year, the difference has been stark. Middlesex are a well-oiled machine; in AB de Villiers, they have possessed the world’s standout white-ball gun-for-hire. Eoin Morgan, riding a wave of giddy World Cup delirium, has proven another high-profile talisman.

The captain, Dawid Malan, has looked in supreme nick – his hundred at The Oval in one of the competition’s early games was one of the finest this format can have seen in recent times. He has led by total example.

On the night of that century, Malan spoke of this quite visible change – an adjustment of attitudes, he noted.

“Whether we win or lose, the signs are good,” he reflected then. “The way we are approaching it, they are changing their mindset – if the average score says 150 before the game, we are trying to get 180 to 200.

“The way we are thinking as a bowling unit, we are not just running up and bowling the same ball we’d bowl in four-day cricket, we are changing up what we’re doing.

“We are thinking about what we’re doing, we’re thinking about different batsmen. It doesn’t mean it’s going to work every game, but it means it gives us a better chance of getting the result that we want.”

^{Middlesex were very impressive with both bat and ball - Dawid Malan starred with the bat in their seven-wicket DLS win over Gloucestershire}

Perhaps, that shift has been clearest in Finn’s giant frame and, more widely, the club’s bowling ranks. Finn, alongside Kent’s Hardus Viljoen, is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. The pair have both taken 17. Of course, on occasion he has gone the journey at times – Somerset took him for 62 from his four overs at Richmond.

Meanwhile, Toby Roland-Jones’ seamers and the leg-spin of Nathan Sowter have picked up 16 each, with Tom Helm joint-third on the list with 14. Chuck in the mystery of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who opposition sides have been willing to see off, and what is left is a hugely accomplished battery.

At Radlett, a fast-scoring out-ground – the kind of outing that county bowlers would never dare relish, Finn was tremendous. But then, that has become the norm once again.

Here, he ran in with the uninhibited gallop that typified his finest days as a fixture on the international circuit. His three wickets followed five at Lord’s against Surrey and three more against Gloucestershire in the pair’s return fixture.

There was no sign of the stuttering hesitancy that bookended his struggles with his runup and approach to the crease. Infamously, of course, the no-ball law was altered to accommodate a quirk in his action.

It has been two summers since Finn last represented England; his name has, in that time, come to exist in the past tense as an international force. When discussion has turned to global honours and his country’s search for the perfect fast-bowling battery, his has become an oft-overlooked silhouette.

Yet, Finn remains a 30-year-old – seemingly a man back on the rise having endured a cruel tumble from grace. There is no reason for which his prime cannot be ahead of him. On the evidence of the last month, that much can be of little debate.

Few have been put through the mill like the Middlesex man – a possessor of a rare natural talent, whose wicket-taking knack has been put through the ultimate test. On the disastrous Ashes tour that spelt the end for so many of English cricket’s golden generation, Finn’s memory is frequently omitted.

^{Steven Finn took three wickets at Radlett}

Yet, he lost more than most – his action, his reputation, his position on the tour. The “unselectable” tag placed upon his name as he left Australia prematurely helped nobody.

It is why his cameo in The Edge, Barney Douglas’ terrific documentary on that unprecedented spell in the English game, was so joyfully fascinating.

“When Andy looks into your eyes he looks into your soul,” he reflected of his relationship with Andy Flower. It was a powerful line from one of the forgotten souls of the era – a man left behind amid the other narratives of the break-up of that team and its culture.

Thus, watching him bowl in his Middlesex pink is a treat. His displays have acted as a reminder – as if one should be needed of a man with 254 international wickets – that his capabilities merit far more than being retired to the annals of England bowlers gone by.

He remains a mighty force. Months younger than Chris Woakes, three years younger than Stuart Broad, four years younger than Liam Plunkett. Don’t write Finn off.

As he ran through Gloucestershire’s top order, he did so with the same rhythmical, fiery gusto that saw him burst onto the scene amid Glenn McGrath comparisons. He rammed one short delivery into Michael Klinger’s ribs – it was a fierce blow that came with an almighty thud, the sound of a ball bowled with a purpose.

That, perhaps, is the greatest compliment that could be paid to Finn here – the best seamer on show on either side. There was a purpose to it all, just as Malan had said there would be.

As England watch seamers go down one after another, there is one waiting in the wings. He is a man whose name seemed to have fallen off a radar on which, once upon a time, he appeared to have a place for life. England could do far worse. And how great would that be.

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