Injuries force England fast bowler Steven Finn to retire from all forms of cricket

LONDON: England fast bowler Steven Finn has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The three-time Ashes series winner called time on his career, following several injuries.

Finn suffered a knee injury that has kept him out of the game in 2023 and has now decided that it is time to call it a day on a magnificent 18-year career.

The 34-year-old seamer played 126 games for England between 2010 and 2017, taking 254 wickets. The paceman played domestically for Middlesex and Sussex.

He claimed 125 scalps in 36 Tests, with a best of 6-79 against Australia at Edgbaston during the 2015 Ashes, and a further 129 in 90 white-ball internationals.

"Today I am retiring from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. I have been fighting a battle with my body for the last 12 months and have admitted defeat to it.

"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.

"To have played 125 games for England, including 36 Test matches, 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.

"Cricket has given me a lot and I hope to give back to the game in some capacity in the future. But, for now, I’ll enjoy watching on without wondering whether my body will be able to make it through another day’s cricket," Finn said in a statement.

Finn was part of the Ashes-winning squads at home in 2013 and 2015 and also in Australia in 2010/11 as England won the urn overseas for the first time since 1986/87.

The paceman was ranked as high as number two in the ICC ODI bowling standings and number five in the T20 international rankings.