England pacer Steven Finn attained plenty of success with the national side, the highlight of his international career being the 2010/11 away Ashes win and the home Ashes series victory in 2015. Finn recently moved from Middlesex, after spending 17 years at the club, to Sussex.
He featured in over 100 international matches for England, between 2010 and 2017, taking 254 wickets. He was the youngest England bowler to 50 Test wickets.
In 2017, Finn was asked to name his all-time XI, the video of which is uploaded on the YouTube channel of Lord’s Cricket Ground. Surprisingly Steven Finn didn’t pick any Indian player in his all-time XI, despite playing against some of the greatest Indian cricketers.
Finn’s first opener is England’s highest Test run-scorer, Alastair Cook. Finn said he enjoyed playing under the captaincy of Cook. The second opener is one of Finn’s best friends, Sam Robson, who played 7 Tests in 2014, and has amassed over 11000 first-class runs.
A bit out of position, but Finn has Australia’s David Warner slotted in at number 3. At number 4, the lanky seamer picked Joe Root, England’s now leading run-getter in international cricket and a really “secure” batsman at the crease, Finn added.
At number 5 is the flamboyant Kevin Pietersen, England’s third-highest run-scorer, who is renowned for his stylish strokeplay and aggressive batting.
Brendon McCullum, former New Zealand captain and a dynamic batsman, is at number 6 in Steven Finn’s all-time XI. The seamer has Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, a swashbuckling left-handed batsman capable of changing the game in quick time, as his wicket-keeper at number 7.
Interestingly, Finn didn’t pick any all-rounder; he went with four genuine bowling options. Graeme Swann is the lone spinner. Swann, a multiple-time Ashes winner, is England’s highest wicket-taking spinner in international cricket.
Of the three pacers, two are England’s greatest pacers – James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have a combined 1707 international wickets at the time of writing. The third pacer is Ireland’s Tim Murtagh, who Finn played alongside with at Middlesex and who has over 800 first-class wickets.
Steven Finn’s all-time XI:
Alastair Cook (C), Sam Robson, David Warner, Joe Root, Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Adam Gilchrist(wk), Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Tim Murtagh, James Anderson
Here’s the video:
