Vitality Blast interview: Steve Finn

Three-times Ashes winner Steve Finn joined Sussex this year from Middlesex, and after making an instant impact in the County Championship with the ball, is looking forward to the challenge of facing the ever-changing creative batsman in the T20 Vitality Blast.

Having decided to leave Middlesex after 17 years playing for his home county, Steve Finn made the switch to Sussex in a deal that will see him play Royal London Cup and Vitality Blast fixtures, as well as LV= Insurance County Championship games.

The vastly experienced and successful seam-bowler has represented England in all formats of the game and has told us that he’s enjoying life down on the south coast: “I moved down in January, so it gave me time to settle in before the season started. I had a good start to the season taking some wickets but then suffered a small knee injury that kept me out of some games, but I’m working on being ready for when those T20 games kick-off.”

Having played for many years against Sussex both at Lords and at Hove, Finn is determined to help Sussex to win as many games as cricket as possible: “It’s always been a challenge coming to Hove and playing against Sussex, so I am looking forward to being on the other side of it!”

“It’s a team that is highly skilled and full of T20 specialists, and also a team that has historically competed at the top of the division, and then typically into the knockout stages of the competition, so I am looking forward to being involved in a side that has that confidence going into the Vitality Blast.”

Having played so much red-ball cricket at the top level, adapting his game to the limited over formats of the game is a challenge that Finn relishes and is always up for: “The challenge is in the way that batsman have developed themselves in the last five or six years.

“In previous years you only had to adapt your game slightly between formats, but now people have become so inventive it’s become fun to find new ways to out-fox them.”

With Ravi Bopara leading the team this year as captain, Finn is looking forward to playing for one of his friend’s and a T20 specialist: “He is one of the funniest guys I know in cricket, but most of all he’s a tremendously experienced and high-quality all-rounder.”

“He’s been there and done it before, so I know he will be able to remain calm which is so important at certain times during T20 matches. I hope he also bowls himself as much as has done in previous years, because he’s very handy to have and I’ve partnered up well with him before.”

Speaking on the rest of the squad and the high-profile names within it, Finn is confident but also stresses the important of not getting too far ahead of ourselves so early in the competition: “If you look too far ahead it can bite you in the backside, so I think it’s important that we take one game at a time.

“As a coach we have James Kirtley who was a successful white-ball cricketer, so having him there as Head Coach is going to be a real help. So, let’s hope we gel together and build momentum as the year goes on and when we look back at it, we can say we’ve had a good year.”

Still need a ticket?

There is still time to buy your tickets online for our game against Glamorgan. You can purchase tickets online up until the start of play.

Tickets can also be purchased over the phone until 3pm on the day of the game by either calling 01273 827100 or visiting the Club Shop.

Those wishing to purchase tickets upon arrival at The 1st Central County Ground are only able to do so via the Eaton Road gate from 5:30pm. However, we strongly recommend you buy them online in advance to reduce queue times and to ensure your tickets are protected by our refund policy.

Ticket prices

Adult - £35 Youth (under 18) - £17.50 Junior (under 14) - £12.50