Steven Finn will have a final opportunity to claim a place as a replacement in England’s Champions Trophy squad when he plays for England Lions against South Africa A at Northampton today.
With Chris Woakes ruled out of the tournament because of a side strain, the England management and selectors will make a decision late this evening on who should be summoned, but first want to run the rule over Finn.
James Whitaker, the national selector, will be at Northampton, and it is understood that it is a straight choice between Finn and Toby Roland-Jones, his Middlesex colleague.
Stuart Broad is not thought to be under consideration. He has played two one-day internationals (both in South Africa last year) since the 2015 World Cup and is being rested by Nottinghamshire this week.
Finn and Roland-Jones were called up to the England squad for the final ODI against South Africa last Monday when Woakes and Ben Stokes were rested, and it was Roland-Jones who impressed more, making 37 not out from 37 balls with the bat and taking the wicket of Hashim Amla in recording figures of one for 34 from his seven overs, with two maidens.
Advertisement
Finn went wicketless in his seven overs, but he did take three wickets for the Lions against South Africa A on Thursday at Nottingham, though he was expensive, conceding 54 runs from seven overs.
England have concerns about their seam bowling, with only Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood in good form.
Stokes is carrying his knee injury, Jake Ball is leaking runs like a sieve and David Willey is having to contend with suggestions that his work does not belong in this sort of company.
Finn was unfortunate to miss out on the original 15-man squad for the tournament and Whitaker said that informing him of his omission was difficult.
“It is tough on Steven, he is a highly capped international [he has played 69 ODIs],” he said. “He was disappointed but he was man enough to accept it, and he’ll keep knocking on the door.”
Advertisement
It was between Finn and Ball then, and when asked why Ball received the nod, Whitaker simply said: “Variation.”
Those at the Oval on Thursday might beg to differ given Ball’s profligacy, but you could see what Whitaker was saying about Finn.
He is tall, he is fast, but he is not necessarily the most adaptable of bowlers. He is certainly not a death bowler.
But he does take wickets, if not at the same rate as when rising to No 2 in the world ODI bowling rankings in 2012, and that is a valuable commodity in today’s ODI game, where parsimony has been replaced by penetration.
Strangely Roland-Jones is not really considered a one-day bowler. His strength lies in the longer game, where he bowls a good length and has the ability to find some lateral movement from the most benign of surfaces.
Advertisement
He is known to have caught the eye of the England management with his ability to do just that in the North versus South matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in March.
He caught the eye again at Lord’s last Monday, igniting a debate that was not in the selectors’ thoughts when they named the Lions squad without Roland-Jones, who is playing for Middlesex against Somerset in a Specsavers County Championship match. “It coincides with the early stages of the Champions Trophy, and provides us with the opportunity to keep our standby players in white-ball action,” Whitaker said.
Middlesex have taken the precaution of recalling James Harris from his loan at Kent should Roland-Jones be called up. The truth is that neither Finn nor Roland-Jones is a like-for-like replacement for Woakes. Chris Jordan may have been the nearest as a bowling all-rounder, but he has not played an ODI since September. Tom Curran is understood to have been considered, but it would be a gamble to throw such a tyro into a huge tournament.
Woakes admitted last night that it felt like “someone was sticking a knife in my side” when he felt the injury in his second over of England’s eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh on Thursday. He underwent a scan that evening and said that he “knew it wasn’t going to be good news”.
It is a significant blow to England’s hopes of winning their first global 50-over tournament. Woakes has become a high-class and confident international. He bowls well with the new ball, is equally effective at the death, and he bats extremely well at No 8.
Advertisement
“Absolutely, it’s a major blow,” Plunkett said. “He’s a class player. He is a massive player and one of the best in the world at the moment.”
Plunkett bowled instead of Woakes at the death on Thursday, taking four wickets, and is relishing continuing that role in the rest of the tournament.
“You get all the glory doing that, don’t you?” he said. “You can go round the park but it gives you the chance to pick up wickets. I do enjoy it.”