Botham implores England to recall Finn

Cricket365
August 28, 2014

Former captain Ian Botham has insisted England select fast bowler Steven Finn ahead of seamer Chris Jordan for Saturday's third ODI against India at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

Jordan copped plenty of expense during Wednesday's heavy defeat in the second ODI, struggling with a laboured run-up throughout and the recipient of a dozen wayward wides.

Finn, who has not played international cricket since August 2013, has been recalled to the squad on the back of a promising stretch of form at county level – and will likely be named in England's squad for the World Cup in Australasia next year.

"I have always felt this guy, Jordan, has a ton of potential but he has a strange grip on the ball where he almost wraps his hand around it the way I would hold an orange, as well as a stop-go, stop-go run-up with little rhythm," Botham told <i>Sky Sports</i>.

"So before he gets himself into a really deep rut I would take him out of the team and let him sort himself out, work out his run-up, and use his thumb when he bowls the ball. You cannot play Jordan in the next game after that sort of display.

"I would give Finn, whose record in ODI cricket is exceptional, a go because in Australia and New Zealand his pace and bounce will be what you want. Let's get him back in the side and get his confidence back,"

The English have been pooled with Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Scotland at the 2015 limited-overs showpiece. Their first match will be against the Aussies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 14 February.

"We have absolutely no chance of winning the World Cup as on the evidence I've seen here we are miles behind the rest," added Botham. "We had batsmen not scoring and too many dot balls and we have three of the top four batsman – Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root – all scoring at around the same pace, around the mid-70s."