The retirement thread

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes good idea.

[alfie]

Except CC wickets won't really prove much (no disrespect intended , but still). He was taking wickets for fun early season before his minor injury.

I think England would do well to take him to India. May not take a bunch of wickets - almost certainly won't if the pitches are as expected ! But his ability to keep one end tight could be invaluable ; especially as England's spinners are likely to be less economical than their opposite numbers - and the faster bowlers (Wood , perhaps Tongue ) also offer more in the line of potential bursts than solid dry spells.

Next summer is a long way off.

[Slipstream]

Except CC wickets won't really prove much (no disrespect intended , but still). He was taking wickets for fun early season before his minor injury.

I think England would do well to take him to India. May not take a bunch of wickets - almost certainly won't if the pitches are as expected ! But his ability to keep one end tight could be invaluable ; especially as England's spinners are likely to be less economical than their opposite numbers - and the faster bowlers (Wood , perhaps Tongue ) also offer more in the line of potential bursts than solid dry spells.

Next summer is a long way off.

Well CC wickets would give him confidence again or find out that he is done and England need to find that out before giving him a contract. I thought his decline would be gradual, not 10 for 16.80 in NZ to 5 for 84.40 in the Ashes.

Yes he did keep it tight in India. http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statisti ... pe=02#bowl

He did bowl more maidens in the Ashes (37) than the whole of the Australia team (34)

[Slipstream]

Hales has retired from all forms of international cricket. He will play T20 for Notts and franchises.

[Durhamfootman]

it's the way forward, seemingly

[Arthur Crabtree]

He's not giving up much of an international career now. Shame he was shuffled out at his peak though.

[Slipstream]

Finn has retired from all forms of cricket.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe got a commentary job. Disappointing international career after a good start. Too many injuries.

[alfie]

Yes injuries finally did for Finn. Better luck in that area he might have had a more notable international career.

Saying that , it wasn't too bad at all ! Thirty six Tests , 125 wickets average 30 : part of three Ashes winning teams. And another 90 odd white ball caps. He'd have loved more ; but I think he will be happy enough with that now he can put his feet up.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I remember him at his best during the 2010-11 Ashes. He was dropped, because he was a bit expensive, but he was England's top wicket taker at that point. He had a bit of late away swing back then which made him dangerous. After he lost that, he became easier to hit. I remember the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge in 2013, Cook was reluctant to bowl him in a tight game.

[alfie]

Edgbaston 2015 the one I remember him for. Smith and Clarke in both innings ; six wickets in the second in a match winning performance...PoTM , quite rightly.

Rather went down hill from there I guess. Couple of good matches ; but never another 5 wicket haul.

[Durhamfootman]

Aye... dropped for being the leading wicket taker

I think he lost it all when that big fuss was made about his run up being too close to the stumps. Once he'd been penalised and threatened with being penalised it all seemed to get inside his head a bit and he was never quite the same bowler again

Good bowler, decent fella, seems to be carving a career in commentary (although I haven't listened to him), so I wish him well for the future

[sussexpob]

Steve Finn will live on as the premium example of Flower's idiotic coaching ideology. Had he been 20 now, he'd have been a generational talent, but sadly for him he was born into an era where England had a coach claiming credit for someone else's previous work, and as a result was busy starting to implement his coaching system which doomed England to a decade of abject failure afterwards - Finn was the first prototype of that.

It seems no secret that at 20, when he was first put into the test team, his non-performance at a military bootcamp in Germany before the 2010-11 Ashes got his card stamped negatively by Flower. Left to carry 60kg of bricks, get shouted at by some Full Metal Jacket wannabe drill sergeant, and getting punched by Tim Bresnan, the young Finn seemed not to have enjoyed himself, and that vision of weakness left a lasting impression on Flower.

By the end, as we all know, Flower had Finn bowling at cardboard cut outs of fake batters in the nets on the disaster tour of Australia in 2013. Relegated to cricketing equivalent of detention. Deemed unworthy of facing a batter. He was 23.... his test average was under 30 at that point. Yet his coach was treating him like a talentless failure - he never recovered his confidence. As a personality, he was at odds with the macho team fabric of the time. Marginalised and left to rot.

His body failed him, but let's be honest - I think his experiences in the first 3 years of career left him not really wanting it that much. He seems a bit of a gentle giant, likes computer games, bit of a geek. A good coach would have made him feel wanted, and stoked the fire - a bad coach would have sent him on a marine course to break him.

Technically too, Flower messed him around. England wanted him to bowl fast, but when he did and went for runs, they complained they wanted him to be like Glenn McGrath and be accurate..... and so, he could never win. England basically wanted him to be Curtley Ambrose, but when he didnt turn out to be the best bowler ever, he was treated like filth.

I remember Mike Holding talking about him years ago. He said had Finn been born into the great WI teams, he'd have stood as an equal... he had that base talent, but extremely bad management ruined it.

[Arthur Crabtree]

By the end, as we all know, Flower had Finn bowling at cardboard cut outs of fake batters in the nets on the disaster tour of Australia in 2013. Relegated to cricketing equivalent of detention. Deemed unworthy of facing a batter. He was 23.... his test average was under 30 at that point. Yet his coach was treating him like a talentless failure - he never recovered his confidence. As a personality, he was at odds with the macho team fabric of the time. Marginalised and left to rot.

I'd forgotten about that. Pretty sad time for him.

[Durhamfootman]

Technically too, Flower messed him around. England wanted him to bowl fast, but when he did and went for runs, they complained they wanted him to be like Glenn McGrath and be accurate..... and so, he could never win.

a familiar tale, sadly