Middlesex Cricket can today confirm that Steven Finn will be leaving the Club at the end of the season.
Discussions with Finn over his future began at the end of last season, and whilst an extension to his terms was initially offered by Middlesex, the Club can now confirm that it will not be extending Finn’s contract, which is in its final year – bringing an end to a Middlesex playing career that has spanned seventeen years.
The Club’s desire for a strike bowler to play and perform consistently across all formats was a major factor in Middlesex releasing Finn and looking elsewhere for a solution to spearhead its pace attack. A shortlist of quality fast-bowling targets has already been drawn up and conversations have begun.
Middlesex can also confirm that Finn has subsequently reached agreement to join Sussex from 2022 onwards and the Club wishes him every success for the future.
Fast bowler, Finn, now 32, was one of the very first products of the Middlesex Academy to be offered a full-time professional contract and made his first-class debut for the Club in 2005, against Cambridge University at Fenners, becoming the youngest ever player to make his Middlesex first-class debut, aged just 16.
In all, he has made a total of 109 first-class appearances for Middlesex since, in which he has taken 394 wickets at an average of 28.13. His best red-ball performance for the Club undoubtedly came in 2010, when taking 9 for 37 in an innings against Worcestershire at New Road and recording match figures of 14 for 106 – the eighth best innings figures and fifteenth best match figures in the Club’s history.
In white-ball cricket, Finn made his List-A debut in 2007 and T20 debut in 2008. He has clocked up a further 152 appearances for the Club in both formats - 59 in List-A cricket, taking 77 wickets at 28.14, and 93 in T20 cricket, taking 116 wickets at 22.25. The 5 for 16 he took in the Vitality Blast against Surrey at Lord’s in 2019 remain his best white-ball figures and are the sixth best figures ever returned by a Middlesex bowler in the T20 format of the game.
In 2010, when having made only 31 first-class appearances for Middlesex, Finn was called up to the England side, and made his Test debut for his country against Bangladesh in Chittagong in March that year, aged just 20. He went on to become the youngest ever bowler to take fifty Test wickets for England, in just his twelfth Test match, aged 22, and went on to make a total of 36 Test appearances for England, taking 125 wickets at 30.40.
He also received 90 white-ball caps for his country, and in a total of 126 appearances for England across all three forms of the game took 254 wickets.
Finn was capped by Middlesex in 2009 and for the last two seasons has deputised for Eoin Morgan as Middlesex’s Captain in the Vitality Blast.
The Club would like to wish Steven every success in the next chapter in his career and thank him for seventeen years of exceptional service as a Middlesex player.
Speaking of Finn’s departure from Middlesex, Head Coach Stuart Law, commented:
“Steven has been a great ambassador for Middlesex and for the game of cricket.
“As a person, Steve is of the highest quality, and the way he has conducted himself through this process says a lot about his character. It’s a shame that an agreement between Middlesex and Steven couldn’t be reached.
“The time that was afforded to the process was fair and reasonable, however someone had to make a decision.
“With the emergence of Tom Helm, Ethan Bamber, Martin Andersson, and Blake Cullen over the last few years, it has made it tougher to find regular cricket for Steve and it’s now time to continue the development of those younger bowlers for the betterment of Middlesex’s future.
“We wish Steve all the best. He will always be regarded as one of Middlesex’s finest bowlers.”
On leaving Middlesex, Steven Finn himself commented:
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have played for Middlesex for seventeen seasons since my debut in 2005 and have made countless lifelong friends.
“It has been more than a club. It has been a family, and I will always be grateful for the support I have received from players, coaches, staff, and Board members.
“Every time I have set foot on the field for the club, I have given my all, and even though results have been tough recently, I see a bright future for the club.
“Now, as I move into the last stage of my career, it seems the right time to embrace a completely new challenge and I am excited and enthused by the prospect of helping a talented, young Sussex team realise their potential.”
