Do England want Finn for Ashes?
Steven Finn has long been highlighted as a good international prospect, and the chance that came his way through injuries in Bangladesh has heightened his reputation.
Add that to an early season blitz of Worcestershire for Middlesex, including 9-37 in the second innings, and it’s easy to see why people are excited. Andrew Strauss, who is turning out for Middlesex whilst the World T20 is going on, has been talking on ECB.co.uk about his prospects:
It’s now about being consistent. He’s got a good six weeks with Middlesex at the beginning of the season to show his form, to show he’s ready to play international cricket.
So far, so common sense. This could be a good summer for Finn to ease his way further into the setup, with Test series against Bangladesh and Pakistan being more low-key than those of the previous two summers against South Africa and Australia. But then, as the article compared the attributes of Finn to those of Stuart Broad and Steve Harmison, Strauss said something else which caught my attention:
Steven Finn is not exactly the same bowlers [sic] as Steve Harmison, they’re quite different in a lot of ways, but he gets up to 86/87mph with good bounce. In other parts of the world in particular it could be a great asset for us as a side.
The phrase that stood out to me was “In other parts of the world in particular”, and I immediately assumed that Strauss actually meant “In Australia in particular”.
England’s pace department is not exactly a crowded house at present, so it is very possible that Finn has a good chance to take the weather with him (sorry, I can’t help myself) this winter. It will be interesting to see if he is included for the squad for the first Test against Bangladesh.
Foolish Ashes Prediction #2: Finn will be included in the England squad after further impressing in the summer Test series.
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