Steven Finn’s top bowling performance in Tests

Steven Finn, who was born on April 4, 1989, was among the taller fast bowlers who represented the England national team. The six-foot-seven-inch fast bowler from Middlesex (later played for Sussex) made his debut against Bangladesh in 2010 on a docile Chattogram wicket where he impressed everybody with his pace and trampolining bounce.  

Steven Finn was also a part of England’s historic tour of India in 2012 where England toppled India in Test by 2-1 after which Finn was also selected in the One-day squad. Despite being referred to as the next big thing in England cricket, Finn couldn’t live up to expectations, and his career was often marred by injuries.  

He was in and out of the England Test team either because of lack of form or injuries and never could become what he could have been. However, he still featured in 36 Tests and took 125 wickets at an average of 30.41 for England. In this article, we will highlight the top 3 performances of his Test career: 

3) 5/42 against Bangladesh – Old Trafford – 2010 

Steven Finn made his debut for England in Bangladesh in 2010 where he impressed everybody with his pace and extra bounce. On the back of his impressive debut, he was again picked up for his first home summer against Bangladesh. He played the first test and rattled by picking 9 wickets in the match. 

But he again topped his performance in the 1st test by picking a five-wicket haul in the 2nd test at Manchester, this time at a better average and strike rate. Finn ended up with figures of 5 for 42 in Bangladesh’s 1st innings in the 2nd test. He was named the ‘Player of the Series’ in only his debut home series and was also compared to Angus Fraser and Glenn McGrath by many cricket pundits during that time. 

2) 6/125 against Australia – Brisbane – 2010-11 

Steven Finn had a sensational start to his international career. After making a decent debut in Bangladesh, he had a great run in the home summer against Bangladesh and Pakistan for which he was also awarded the ‘ICC Emerging Player of the Year’ award. These performances earned him a spot in the England squad for the Ashes in Australia. 

It was a litmus test for Finn, and he passed handsomely as he registered his then-career-best figures of 6 for 125 against Australia in the first test at Brisbane. However, the 1st Test ended in a draw, but England won the series by 3-1   

1) 6/79 against Australia – Birmingham – 2015 

Steve Finn’s cricketing journey has been one marred with injuries and self-doubts, but it is the sheer determination of the tall and lanky fast bowler which has inspired him to make comebacks despite being cornered by obstacles. One such example is his comeback to get his career-best figures of 6/79 against Australia in the 2015 Ashes after being termed as ‘non-selectable’ by selector Ashley Giles in the previous Ashes series in Australia. 

Steve Finns went back to his county, remodeled his action and run-up, and toiled hard for months to make a comeback into the international circuit and straight away ripped through the Australian batting order with his career-best figures of 6 for 79 in an innings. Steven Finn’s spell played an important role in England taking a 2-1 lead by winning the test and eventually went on to win the series.