Finn ‘banging head against wall’ to fix action

England bowler Steven Finn has been struggling with his action. Picture: Nick Potts/PA

The Middlesex paceman did not take part in any of the Ashes Tests as England surrendered the urn with a 5-0 whitewash and was not selected for the opening one-day match as the tourists went down to a humbling six-wicket defeat.

Limited-overs coach Ashley Giles then announced that Finn would be returning home as he was currently “not selectable” due to technical problems with his bowling action, and the 24-year-old admits it has been a frustrating time. He said: “I’ve worked very hard on this tour. I’ve put lots and lots of hours of work in to try to make my bowling action right and I arrived on the tour very confident that I could play a full part in the Ashes series.

“It’s clear that there are a couple of technical issues that I need to address. And going home and working on these aspects of my game would be the best place for me to do it, to get away from cricket for a couple of weeks because, at times, it’s felt like I’ve been banging my head against a brick wall.

“To take myself out of this environment, a competitive environment, to get myself back to Middlesex and work with people that I’ve worked with for a long time before, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Despite his recent problems in the nets, Finn does not feel he is a long way from getting back to his best.

“There’s times on this trip where it’s felt like it’s so close to clicking, even as recently as a couple of days ago bowling in the nets before the Prime Minister’s XI game, I bowled nicely,” he added.

“I bowled with decent pace, I bowled quite consistently but it’s the infrequency with which that’s happened that’s probably a little bit of the reason for me going home.

“I do love the game but at times it’s been hard to love it and that’s a contributory factor.”

Following the Australia tour, England travel to the West Indies for three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 games before the World Cup in the shortest format takes place in Bangladesh in March and April.

But Finn is unlikely to be ready for those trips and is eyeing a return against Sri Lanka in May.

“As far as the West Indies trip and the Twenty20 World Cup goes, it’s going to be difficult for me to put my hand up for selection for those as there is going to be no cricket outdoors for me before that point,” he said.

“I’m not letting go of the hope that everything might click once I get back to England after a couple of weeks but it will be difficult for me to push my claim for that tour.

“The focus for me is getting back for Middlesex, really enjoying pre-season, playing some early-season cricket there at Lord’s and around the country playing for Middlesex, and then try to put my hand up for those first one-dayers against Sri Lanka.”