Finn in no hurry to be speed king

Steven Finn has found an extra gear to rank among the world’s fastest bowlers, but he will not be sidetracked by the need for speed against India today.

As England prepare for the must-win third one-day international in Mohali, Finn represents one of their most obvious chances of somehow battling their way back into the five-match series before it is too late. A sneaky glance at the pitch, on his way to the nets yesterday, brought an involuntary smile to his face too – patches of green promising the possibility of pace, bounce and even seam movement in this often arid country.

People have been noticing he has suddenly become a 90mph-plus bowler. The man himself, however, knows other attributes are more important. “A couple of people have come up to me and said, ‘You’re bowling at 94mph’.

“My mum rang me and said ‘You were bowling at 94mph yesterday’. But it’s not something that is occupying my mind.”

Finn knows direction and trajectory will always outweigh speed for him. “It’s nothing I think about. More important is where the ball goes. At what pace it does it is really irrelevant.”

Finn’s new-found extra pace might easily have helped him and England make more of a game of Monday’s second ODI when he troubled Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli early in their double-century stand, only to end up wicketless in a match which careered away from the tourists. The 6ft 7in bowler believes he may yet, still only 22 years old, be able to push the speed gun further.

“Every time I’ve bowled, people are saying ‘Is the speed gun broken?’ But I’m not doing anything different. I’m maturing as a bowler, so I think I might have a little bit more in the tank.”

Either way, as England perhaps consider changes elsewhere in their line-up after two crushing defeats against a team they beat 3-0 at home just last month, Finn may just have conditions in his favour in Mohali.

England still have options to change a losing team, in all departments, and it seems there could be a return for Ian Bell, at the possible expense of Ravi Bopara, who would be unlucky to be dropped after batting consistently of late.

l Shane Warne has not ruled out a return to professional cricket in Australia’s revamped Big Bash Twenty20 tournament in December, saying he’s the fittest he’s ever been. Warne, 42, formally retired from top-class cricket in May after the Rajasthan Royals’ last game of the 2011 Indian Premier League. He played his last Test match for Australia in 2007, finishing with a then-world record 708 Test wickets.