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Former England fast-bowler Steven Finn revealed facing a painstaking mental health battle during the disastrous 2013-14 tour of Australia. The 36-year-old, who was part of England’s squad for the ignominious 5-0 Ashes whitewash, had originally retained his spot for the white-ball leg of the trip. However, the tall pacer was sent back home by the England team management after limited-overs coach Ashley Giles termed him “not selectable”. Ahead of the launch of his book ‘The Ashes Files’, Finn cast his mind back to the traumatic trip Down Under and how the premature departure took an immense toll. “I remember being in Perth and feeling at my wits’ end. I remember thinking, ‘I just don’t see a way out of this,’ and I wasn’t willing to voluntarily walk away from it, even more so given the reception that the guys who had left the tour (Jonathan Trott and, eventually, Graeme Swann would leave prematurely) received, even if it would have been kinder on myself to do so,” Finn told The Times. “I was just banging my head against a brick wall. And continued to do so for another three or four weeks until I got sent home. There was no malice in it, and Gilo (Ashely Giles) was always completely straightforward and honest, but it was clumsy, definitely clumsy.” After not being picked for the single Test of the Ashes, Finn was benched for the first One-Dayer as well as a 50-over tour match against an Australian PM’s XI in Canberra in a set of selections that had already dented his spirits. Subsequently, in a massive blow, he was also sent on a flight back home with most of the white-ball assignments remaining. At the time, Giles justified his decision in the media, saying that Finn “is not selectable at the moment” as he needed some time away from the game to rejuvenate his mental state and form. In a separate interview given to The Guardian, Finn said the tag ‘unselectable’ had a very demoralising effect on him. “I hope I don’t sound harsh on Ashley but it was clumsy language and I think it damaged me,” Finn said about the period where he admitted having cried in front of England Lions psychologist, Mike Rotherham, during the Tests. Identified as a prodigy during his initial years as a cricketer, Finn did make a comeback and played his part in England’s 2015 Ashes win. But his international career shockingly ended at the age of just 28. The speedster played his last game in any format for England in May 2017. In all, he represented his country in 36 Tests, 69 One-Day Internationals and 21 T20Is.
