Steven Thomas Finn (born 4 April 1989) is a former English cricketer. He was a right-arm fast bowler, who also bats right-handed. At the age of 16, he became Middlesex County Cricket Club's youngest-ever debutant in first-class cricket. He made his England Test debut in 2010 against Bangladesh. In 2019 he became a commentator for Test Match Special.
Finn was educated at Parmiter's School in Garston near Watford. He is a supporter of Watford F.C. and a former county basketball player.
Finn played locally for Langleybury CC and West Herts CC, and later in his career for Hampstead Cricket Club.
He made his first-class debut for Middlesex on 1 June 2005, playing against Cambridge UCCE at Fenner's. He took 1 wicket for 16 runs (1/16) and 1/37 and did not bat. He became Middlesex's youngest first-class debutant, beating the record set by 16-year-old Fred Titmus in 1949. He also played Middlesex age group cricket.
He was not re-engaged by Middlesex following the 2021 season and signed a contract with Sussex for the 2022 season, where he took 21 wickets in 19 appearances.
Finn played for Manchester Originals in the inaugural season of The Hundred, where he set a record for the most runs conceded in the competition - fifty-one from his fifteen deliveries.
Following a knee injury in 2022, which left him sidelined for most of 2023, Finn announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 14 August 2023.
Introduction to international cricket
Finn toured South Africa with the England Under-16 squad in 2005. He played in two Under-19 Test matches and three Under-19 ODIs against the Indian team that toured England in 2006, and in seven Under-19 ODIs in Malaysia in early 2007.
In February and March 2010, he was part of the England Lions team to tour the United Arab Emirates, earning selection with a solid 2009 season of 53 wickets at 30.64. He impressed the selectors, and was short-listed for the 2009 World Twenty20 though was not picked for the final team.
When the senior squad's bowling attack was restricted by injury at the beginning of the 2010 Bangladesh tour, he was flown in as bowling cover. He played a tour match the day after arriving, and took three wickets in some economical spells of bowling across the two innings, and subsequently leapfrogged Liam Plunkett and Ajmal Shahzad to be picked for the first Test match on 12 March 2010. He was aged just 20, and became the 647th man to play Test cricket for England.
He played in both Test matches, which England won by 181 runs and 10 wickets respectively. His first wicket was Bangladeshi batsman Shahadat Hossain, who was caught by Paul Collingwood, and proceeded to take one wicket in each of the four Bangladeshi innings. A double declaration by England in the first Test meant that he wasn't required to bat until the second Test where he finished unbeaten on 0 from 10 balls.
After an impressive start to the County season, including a 14-wicket match haul, he was chosen again to face Bangladesh, this time in England. In the first match at Lord's, his home debut, he took a 5-wicket-haul in the second innings as England won by eight wickets, finishing with nine wickets in the match. In doing so he was compared to Angus Fraser and Glenn McGrath by many media pundits, although he also worried them by frequently falling over in his follow-through. Nevertheless, he went on to Old Trafford to take a second five-for, being named Player of the Series in his debutante international home season.
Finn was not selected for the ODI series against Australia and Bangladesh, but returned for the Test series against Pakistan. Finn was quietly effective; though he did not bowl as much as fellow pace-bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, he picked up 13 wickets at an average of 22.92. Finn was also part of a useful 49-run unbeaten last-wicket partnership with Matt Prior in the first Test, which enabled Prior to reach a century despite only having 63 runs when Finn came to the crease. Finn picked up five wickets in the match, including 3–50 in the first innings as England won by 354 runs. He bowled less in the second Test, taking match figures of 3–67. Finn was less impressive in the third Test at the Oval, but took 3–38 in the final Test of the series as England won by 225 runs. England won the series 3–1, though the series ended amid newspaper allegations of spot-fixing involving several members of the Pakistan team.
Finn's performances during the summer saw him selected for England's squad for the 2010-11 Ashes series and he won the ICC Emerging Player of the year award at the 2010 ICC Awards. Chosen for the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, Finn took his first Ashes wicket catching Simon Katich off his own bowling. He later took the wickets of several of the Australian tail to finish with Test-best figures of 6–125, his third five wicket haul in only his ninth Test. He took a further 8 wickets in the next two Tests, as England won in Adelaide before Australia squared the series at Perth. Despite being the leading wicket taker in the series for either team after 3 Tests, Finn was rested for the fourth Test, which England won. His replacement, Tim Bresnan, impressed in the fourth Test and kept his place for the fifth Test as England won both games by an innings to record a 3–1 victory – their first in Australia for 24 years. Finn finished with 14 wickets at an average of 33.14. Although he wasn't initially included in the limited overs squads, he was added as cover for the rested James Anderson for the two Twenty20 internationals and the first three ODI matches. On 30 January 2011 he made his ODI debut taking 1/61 off his 10 overs and scoring 35 runs as number 11 with a late flurry at the end of England's innings in a partnership of 53 with James Anderson. He kept his place for next game where he took 2–51. In the final game of the series, he was wicketless as he finished with figures of 0–57.
Having been dropped from the Test team during the Ashes, Finn faced competition from fast bowlers such as Bresnan and Shahzad to break into the team. When Sri Lanka toured in May Finn was included in the Test squad, though missed out on selection for the first match. An injury to James Anderson opened up a gap in England's bowling attack and Finn was chosen as his replacement. England's fast bowlers struggled to dismiss Sri Lanka, but Finn took 4/108 and in the process became the youngest player to reach 50 Test wickets for England. Anderson returned to fitness in time for the next Test and Finn was dropped to make room for him. Finn was subsequently dropped from the Test squad to face India in July in favour of Tim Bresnan but recalled as cover for the injured Chris Tremlett ahead of the third Test, though he did not play. Towards the end of the season, Finn's bowling was frequently reaching 90 miles per hour (145 km/h). He played three ODIs during England's 2011 home season, taking four wickets. These included two ODIs against India, where he took figures of 1–54 and 1–44.
When England toured India in October for five ODIs, senior fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad were absent, rested and injured respectively. Finn was included in the squad. In the first ODI he took 1–67 as England suffered a heavy defeat by 126 runs. He had no wicket in the second, finishing 0-50. He performed better in the next two matches, taking 2–44 and 3–45. Finn bowled all of his ten overs in the final match of the series, finishing with 2–47 as England lost by 95 runs. Finn finished as England's leading wicket-taker in the series with 8 dismissals at an average of 31.62. Commenting on Finn's performance in the series, which England lost 5–0, coach Andy Flower said "Coming into the series he wasn't a first-choice limited-overs cricketer for us. But he has been the outstanding bowler in our side." Finn took 3–22 in a T20 match against India following the ODI series. After the tour Finn exploited a gap in England's international schedule to join Otago to gain experience.