Three-time Ashes winner Steven Finn retires at 34 as the former England bowler calls time on an 18-year career after 'admitting defeat' in long-running injury battle

Three-time Ashes winner Steven Finn followed former England team-mate Stuart Broad into retirement yesterday after admitting defeat to a glut of injuries.

Beanpole fast bowler Finn attempted a return to playing earlier this month following a year out with a knee problem but managed just four expensive overs for Sussex in defeat to Durham at Hove.

The 34-year-old took 125 wickets in 36 Tests at an average of 30.4 between 2010 and 2016 for England, featuring in series wins over Australia in 2010-11, 2013 and 2015 when he triumphantly came back into the fold to claim the man-of-the-match award at Edgbaston, having endured a torrid tour down under in 2013-14.

‘I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to play cricket as my vocation since I made my debut for Middlesex in 2005. The journey hasn’t always been smooth, but I have loved it nonetheless,’ Finn, who switched from his boyhood club to Hove in 2022, said.

‘To have played 126 games for England, including 36 Tests, far surpassed what I dreamed of. I retire with some amazing memories with England, Middlesex and Sussex, shared with fantastic people. Those will live with me forever.’

Steven Finn has announced his immediate retirement from cricket at the age of 34

The former Middlesex and Sussex bowler (back row first left) won the Ashes three times including the last time a visiting side came out on top in 2010-11

Finn departs with one other legacy, having been denied the wicket of South Africa’s Graeme Smith when he knocked the bails off at the bowler’s end in a match at Headingley in 2012. On that occasion the umpires decided it was a dead ball, but it triggered a law change within months and subsequent occurrences were called no-balls.

He is expected to continue his media work, having appeared as part of the Test Match Special commentary team this summer.

Finn featured in three Ashes series – winning all of them – although he would only win seven caps against bitter rivals Australia.

His first tour came after an impressive 2010 summer saw him named on the 2010-11 touring party aged just 21, and Finn would go on to take six for 125 in Brisbane in the first innings in just his ninth Test.

The 6ft 7ins former Middlesex and Sussex star would take 14 wickets on the tour – the last time a visiting side won an Ashes series.

He was once again selected in 2013, as well as in 2015, winning both times on home soil, taking six for 79 in the latter series at Edgbaston.

Finn – who spent 17 years at Lord’s before a move to Hove – has not featured for England since 2017, and has transitioned into commentary for Test Match Special as of 2019.