Finn

[stephen]

Is this kid any good? He's the only Pommy face I don't know from the game vs WA.

[Prince EWS]

Well he's taken 30 odd Test wickets at a stupidly good average but he has essentially no meaningful Test experience at all. He's played four Tests against Bangladesh and four Tests against a hilariously bad Pakistan team who were regularly 30/4 by the time he came on. Extremely tall and relies on bounce without being particularly quick.

He's a promising young player but I think he'll struggle a bit TBH; I'd pick Tremlett ahead of him.

[vcs]

Why does Tremlett have such a good reputation.. is it because Warne talks him up, or is he brilliant in First Class cricket?

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by vcs

Why does Tremlett have such a good reputation.. is it because Warne talks him up, or is he brilliant in First Class cricket?

Because he's a good bowler.

[vcs]

Yeah but his First Class average doesn't look anything out of the ordinary.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by vcs

Yeah but his First Class average doesn't look anything out of the ordinary.

His debut series against India was awesome though. He was so Clark-esque. He's had a lot of injury problems; the word is that his First Class bowling average is inflated by regularly playing half-fit.

[BoyBrumby]

Finn's quick enough, IMHO. Regularly up around 85-88mph. At his height that should be plenty, although he does occasionally fall away (and fall over too) in his delivery stride, so is not always making the best use of his 6' 8".

That said, he's the most in danger of the 4 incumbents if Tremmers pulls up some trees when/if (and he surely must) he gets a warm up game.

[flibbertyjibber]

Finn is good and seeing as he is only 21 is only going to get better.Yes he is a bit raw but he learns quickly and as long as he stops falling over in his follow through and doesn't get injured he will have a long and productive career.I think he will have more of an impact on the series than Anderson will and be the 2nd best paceman for us behind Broad.

To give him a comparison i think he is a better bowler now than Broad was after the same amount of games,certainly seems able to bowl to a plan better than Broad could at that stage.

As for Tremlett i am not convinced.Everyone is talking him up after one full season in a poor division.Add in the fact he will probably breakdown at some stage and you have a problem.I'd have picked Shahzad in the squad for his ability to reverse the ball.

[howardj]

He'll have to learn quickly otherwise I can see the following headlines after the Gabba

Thrown to the sharks

Blood in the water

[Howe_zat]

Tremlett has looked very promising in county cricket. He's been picked because the selectors think he's back to his best after struggling with injuries. The only issue with his (excellent) figures last year and the year before is that he switched to play in the 2nd division.

As for Finn, you can only play who's in front of you and he's played well. It wasn't all easy for the bowlers in those series either. Bangladesh put on very good opening partnerships thanks to Tamim Iqbal, who Finn opened against in Manchester.

[zaremba]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Finn's quick enough, IMHO. Regularly up around 85-88mph. At his height that should be plenty, although he does occasionally fall away (and fall over too) in his delivery stride, so is not always making the best use of his 6' 8".

I agree. He also doesn't have particularly long arms for his height, so his release point isn't all that high. They did an interesting (well, to me anyway) hawkeye graphic on Sky in August showing the release points of different bowlers in the series. Finn was the highest, but Broad and Asif were only fractionally lower. Which given Finn's enormous height was a bit of a surprise.

I've also not seen him get really alarming bounce. Certainly no more than either Harmison or Flintoff or McGrath, and perhaps rather less.

He's obviously a good prospect though. He's capable of bowling at 90mph, he's got good height, he seems to learn fast, he's a really level-headed and intelligent guy, he's got a good mentor at Middlesex in Gus Fraser, and he's very young.

[zaremba]

Originally Posted by Howe_zat

Tremlett has looked very promising in county cricket. He's been picked because the selectors think he's back to his best after struggling with injuries. The only issue with his (excellent) figures last year and the year before is that he switched to play in the 2nd division.

Yes the standard of batting in Div 2 this year has, on the whole, been absolutely woeful. I think they also used a different kind of ball (Tiflex or somesuch) which the bowlers found helpful.

[Woodster]

On Finn, he does appear to be a very good prospect, and when he physically gets a bit stronger, he may well add an mph or two. His pace is lively without being express, as earlier posters have said, but his main areas of strength will be his accuracy and bounce. He's a level headed temperament, who knows he has got plenty of room for improvement, and this tour will be the next stage of his development.

I agree with Flibbertyjibber in that he looks a better bowler than Broad was at the comparative stages of their Test career.

It will be interesting to see how he goes in Australia on pitches that should in theory suit his style. Just a case of how quickly he adapts to the lengths he consistently has to hit.

[Woodster]

I always think with Tremlett it was only a case of him proving he is actually fully fit and capable of getting through a complete tour/series, don't think his selection is just on the back of a good season in Division Two, and of course the pitches that should assist him aswell.

I've a feeling that Tremlett would enjoy a better series that Finn if selected, but the potential for Finn is bigger, and his development would certainly be enhanced by playing in this series. There's probably not a lot between them, so Finn may have the edge on recent performances and the long-term gain.

[zaremba]

Originally Posted by Woodster

There's probably not a lot between them, so Finn may have the edge on recent performances and the long-term gain.

Maybe on performance, but I hope to God the team isn't picked on the grounds of long-term planning. If there's a time and place for making selections on the basis of long-term planning, it's not at the start of an Ashes series.