Steve Finn - ‘Finns’ of steel - Part 1 - Opinion
Rearing in at at over 6 feet, and deploying deliveries with impunity in that corridor of uncertainty has made http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harold-William-Stephenson-c61707 Finn England’s ODI weapon. He has performed in a format that the Poms have historically shunned away as a distraction from the serious stuff
of Test Cricket. In financially savory times, Finn has stood out as one of the most accomplished pacers. His impact can be felt beyond his bowling, in his calm, suave tweak to the crease and his content smile after he picks up a wicket. Yet his bowling deserves
to be glorified for all the right reasons.
England was a disastrous ODI outfit prior to their recent achievement of being the best in the world in ODI cricket. Their see-saw ride in ODI cricket was epitomized in their terrible 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign in the subcontinent. Despite reaching
the quarter finals in that tournament, England were considered push overs from their opponents in a land where subcontinent giants had thrashed them with impunity in the past. However, since then, a change of captaincy guard and a fresh looking English side
has managed to put them back on the map. Consistency came in patches for side that was desperate for ODI glory. Alastair Cook was usually the archetypal hero, as his sensational run of form as England’s opening batsman coincided with English victories in all
three formats of the game. England eventually transformed from being mediocre into ‘invincibles’, particularly at home. Regular pilgrims to the UK were pounded into submission as star players such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Eoin-Joseph-Gerard-Morgan-c56032, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, James
Anderson, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TT-Bresnan-c2711 performed remarkably well. England had a wonderful collection of astute batsmen and bowlers at their disposal and the ghosts of failure became a thing of the past.
These stupendous results have come in the form of beating an Indian side which had won the World Cup at home and destroying an Australian team, which has traditionally, had the upper hand on them. Yet, England’s main weapon has undoubtedly been http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ST-Finn-c2566,
and the reasons might not be as obvious as they seem to be. It is easy to belittle Finn’s achievements, overshadowing his match winning pursuits by a swashbuckling innings from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IR-Bell-c1597 or Cook himself. Yet his attributes as a player have made him the ‘go-to’
man in the English ODI team.
There were times in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013’s recent ODI encounters, where they were pushed down to the wire and needed a match winning performance when it mattered. Prime examples of such precarious situations surfaced in their tour to the UAE in 2011. England was taking
on a resurgent Pakistan outfit which had a potent spin attack on placid wickets. There were times in that ODI series when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 looked to take the game away from England. Then the penny would drop and the script would change, when a tall, lanky fast bowler
would be entrusted with the responsibility of delivering for England when the chips were down. Seldom has he disappointed, as Pakistan were rocked to the point of losing their first series in the Emirates, largely due to Finn’s efforts.
The first ODI in the Arabian Desert for example, saw England score only 260 in their first innings, courtesy efforts of their captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026. In normal circumstances that score would be commendable, yet given the array of top quality players in the
opposition, of whom many had performed with ruthlessness in the UAE in the past, England knew that they were up against it.
Continued in Part 2...
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