Young paceman Steven Finn said on Wednesday he hoped a fresh and young England squad will put the 3-0 Test series rout by Pakistan behind them in the one-day series which starts next week. The 21-year-old watched from the sidelines as Pakistan registered a first-ever whitewash against England who perisisted with James Anderson and Stuart Broad besides playing spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Frustrated at not being picked in the Tests, Finn hoped the one-day series will provide him and the team with an opportunity to forget the Tests. “I think this one-day series is going to be a great opportunity for us to put what’s gone on under the carpet.
I hope, moving towards in this one-day series, I am going to get an opportunity to show what I can do,” Finn told reporters. The last of Finn’s 12 Test appearances came against Sri Lanka in 2011. “It is frustrating. I am getting very good at mixing drinks for the boys. I’ve sort of got used to it over the last 12 months. But it’s not the sort of thing you enjoy,” said Finn, the youngest to complete 50 Test wickets for England. Finn said last year’s India tour where England were blanked 5-0 in the one-day series was a learning process. “After the India series, I’ve got confidence in the way I bowled – and I hope I can bring that forward into this series. I think this one-day team is a very youthful, very exciting place to be,” said Finn.
Pakistan and England meet in the first of four one-day matches in Abu Dhabi on February 13. Finn showed confidence his experience of bowling on the slow subcontinent pitches will help him here. “I played a fair amount of cricket in the sub-continent with the youth teams. The skills you have to use out here, the guys obviously did very well in the Test matches, and it’s something I can do well out here as well,” said Finn. Finn, 6ft seven inch tall, has so far taken 15 wickets in 11 one-day internationals.
