Steven Finn interview: England man 'in a good place' as he returns to knee-knocking Headingley

Cruyff had his turn, Fosbury had his flop and Finn has his law.

It is a rare and special sportsman indeed who can add their name to their sport’s lexicon but Steven Finn has that honour. And it was at Headingley, the venue for this week’s first Test between England and Sri Lanka, that it all began.

Back in 2012 Finn dislodged the bails at the bowler’s end with his knee on several occasions - most damagingly during a delivery that would have dismissed the South African captain, Graeme Smith, who was in single figures. It caused the game’s law makers to introduce what is now commonly known as Finn’s Law: a no-ball if there is a clatter at the wrong end.

“Headingley is where my kneeing the stumps started so it’ll bring back memories of that,” a tanned and relaxed Finn says at the Investec series launch in London. “That’s been and gone but Headingley is a funny ground because of the slope. You don't get too many slopes directly down the wicket. There, Hove and Derby are the only three grounds in the country. So it’s a little bit different. You have to run in harder up the hill, to pump your legs to get there with rhythm and you can almost cruise down the hill - but if you cruise too much it can throw your rhythm out.

“It’s hard to find a rhythm at Leeds but once you do you can play it to your advantage because you can fly in down the hill and you do tend to get a bit more bounce up the hill. So it’ll be about adjusting to that in the practice sessions before the Test. Getting used to both those ends and taking that practice into the game.”

Finn’s knocking knees were a problem during a time when he was yo-yoing in and out of the team and looked nervous on the big stage. Ashley Giles, then England’s limited-overs coach, infamously and somewhat cruelly described him as “unselectable” in 2014. Now, he looks at ease in the Test side having been a key factor in England’s resurgence under Trevor Bayliss over the last 12 months.

Finn played the final three Test of last summer’s Ashes, took 12 wickets at 22, and the first three of the tour of South Africa over the winter, taking 11 wickets at 26. Injuries, as ever with Finn, have stopped him playing the lot. But, he’s back at it, enjoying the summer so far and is excited about the first Test.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself over the last couple of years,” he says. “I know my action well enough to be able to have periods away from cricket and then come back to it and be bowling well again. You don't want injuries, you want to keep bowling to keep that rhythm, especially when you’re in good form. But I don’t think the injuries will have set me back too much. I’m more in tune with my game and what I’m trying to do to get people out. I feel in a good place, most definitely.”

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He’ll hope that place is out in the middle. Jake Ball has burst on to the international scene this summer with his first Test squad call up and is challenging the Middlesex man. “I went a bit of a way towards cementing that third seamer spot in the winter in South Africa,” Finn says. “Competition puts English cricket in a healthy place. Unless you are a Stuart Broad or a James Anderson you are never settled in that line up.

“So it’s about trying to get yourself to the same level that they have and they’ve only done that through hard work and taking wickets consistently for England. That’s when you make that spot your own. It’s a big summer for me to try and cement that spot in the team. But I'm not putting too much pressure on myself. If you put pressure on, it won’t come. I just want to relax, play with a smile on my face and let the ball do the talking.”

The ball has done some talking for Finn so far this summer but occasionally the only noise it’s made is when it’s hit the middle of the bat. “I’ve bowled some good spells this summer so far,” Finn says, “and I’ve bowled some not great spells. It’s like it has been my whole career: a few too many four balls when you're a little bit out of rhythm. But I’ve still been taking wickets so I’m not disheartened by that. I feel my action is in a good place.

“I’ll be doing a little more work leading up to the Test up at Loughborough and with Richard Johnson at Middlesex. Hopefully by the time I get to Headingley, I’ll be firing 100 per cent. This first few weeks it’s been different getting back into competitive cricket having not played a competitive game since the start of January in South Africa. You have to get your competitive head back on. It took a bit of time to find my feet but there have certainly been spells that make me believe that I can have a good summer.”

Finn missed out on England’s World T20 campaign that ended in final agony through injury but then in an interview claimed he was fit - his anger at missing out apparent. “I was in the wrong,” Finn says of questioning the medical men and selectors. “I’ve accepted that. I've spoken to whoever was affected and everything’s fine. It’s gone. Trevor actually sent me an email and it said use your frustration as motivation to take wickets in the Tests this summer - which was the perfect response to it. You can channel your frustration into the wrong avenues and it can affect you the wrong way. Use it in the right manner and it can be a positive thing.”

It’s certainly a positive thing for Finn to have Ben Stokes in the England line up. The addition of a fourth seamer takes the pressure off someone like Finn, who can have wayward spells, if his radar is on the blink. He recognises that and maybe his run in the side coinciding with the all-rounder cementing his place too is no coincidence.

“The great thing about having a four-man seam attack with Stokes, who is a proper fourth seamer who bowls 90mph and swings it both ways, is it allows you, if you are having a good day, you can lead from the front and the other guys can fill in behind you and do their roles. On another day when it’s not your day and you do bowl a few bad balls it allows you to settle back into the pack. A four-man attack has helped me in the Tests I’ve played over the last year.”

And Finn will be hoping it helps him in the year to come, too, starting on Thursday at the scene of his game-changing moment.