I was frustrated not to be with the team during World T20: Steven Finn

England fast bowler Steven Finn, who was injury ridden during the World T20, has admitted he was frustrated by England’s decision not to take him to India as part of the World T20 squad, insisting he would have been fully fit for the tournament. Finn suffered from a calf injury and was replaced in the squad by Liam Plunkett.

The fast bowler says that he assured the England management that he would be fit and subsequently played a full part on Middlesex’s pre-season tour.

While he celebrated England’s relative success in the tournament, joking that they would have been “knocked out in the group stages if I’d been there”, he felt the latest in a succession of injuries robbed him of “a big winter”.

“It’s frustrating,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I would have been fit. I told them I would be fit.

“There wasn’t actually much wrong with me. I was back up and running within a week of the calf injury but the decision was made quite quickly to pull me out of the squad. There were still 10 days before the squad left to go for India and I was pretty much bowling 100% by the time the guys started the World Cup.

“They played fantastically and got better as the tournament went on. I was frustrated not to be out there with them, but you get over that and accept the decision is made.”

Finn has been hampered with injuries since his return to the Test team in 2015. A foot injury kept him out of the Test series in the UAE while a side strain ended his tour to South Africa. If all this was not enough already, Finn cut his head on a street sign while looking at his phone while walking.

“Injuries at this stage of my career, when it looked like I could have had a big winter, are frustrating,” he said. “But I’ve taken solace in the fact that when I’ve come back I’ve bowled well straight away. In the past it has taken a while.”

Finn also expressed sympathy for Ben Stokes, who was hit for four successive sixes in the final of the World T20 as West Indies won the trophy. Finn recalled the incident involving him he was smacked for  49 runs in two overs by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum in the 2015 World Cup. Finn said that Stokes retained his composure admirably.

“When I got hit by Brendon I went to things that I wasn’t sure whether they were going to work,” Finn said. “You have to take yourself out of the situation and remember what worked well for you and Stokesy did that very well. He tried to deliver the skills he had all tournament.

“Stoksey’s yorker had worked for him all tournament and, if you look at the pitch map of that over, apart from the first ball, they were very close to being good yorkers that wouldn’t normally be hit for six.

“Ben can take solace in the fact that he did deliver his skill. He just got met on that day by someone who was having a freakish innings.

“It will have hurt a lot at the time, but he’ll be fine. He’ll still be the heart and soul of the team. He’ll still be the life of the team. And if there is a last over to bowl again, I’m sure he’ll put his hand up to do it because he’s that sort of character.”