Steven Finn      

Standing at 6' 7'' Steven Finn is the latest beanpole fast bowler to carry England's hopes. Pinging the ball down from the clouds he has the heady blend of pace and trampolining bounce to rattle the best players.

But the trajectory of his career went into reverse in 2013/14. Issues with his delivery stride - a habit of kneeing the stumps led to a Law change making it a no-ball - and control meant he has been in and out of the side. Endless tinkering with his action left Finn visibly bereft of confidence, leading to him being sent home from England's tour of Australia after being deemed unselectable.

Finn made his county debut for Middlesex as a 16-year-old in 2005, the youngest to do so since Fred Titmus in 1949, and was earmarked as an England prospect from his early days, representing England at all age-group levels from Under-16s upwards. He enjoyed a solid 2009 season for Middlesex, taking 53 wickets at 30.64 in the Championship, and then did well for England Lions in the UAE. With Stuart Broad, Graham Onions and Ryan Sidebottom all picking up injuries early on England's tour to Bangladesh, Finn was parachuted in as cover. Barely 24 hours after arriving in the country he was playing in the warm-up game against Bangladesh A and impressed on his Test debut three days later, displaying good pace and bounce on a docile Chittagong surface.

With the England management desperately searching for a consistent replacement for Steve Harmison, Finn marked his home debut, also against Bangladesh, in style. In the familiar surroundings of Lord's, he carried a rusty England attack with 4 for 100 in the first innings and went one better in the second, taking 5 for 87 to finish with nine in the game and the man-of-the-match medal in just his third Test.

He kept his place against Pakistan and despite doubts as to whether he was ready for the challenge of a tour of Australia, Finn fronted up impressively in his early outings. He claimed a career-best 6 for 125 to help turn the tide in the first Test at the Gabba, before stepping into the breach left by an injury to Stuart Broad to help seal victory in the second Test at Adelaide. Though he faded at Perth and was omitted from the last two matches, he'd done enough to confirm his promise.

A single Test appearance in 2011 followed, during which he became the youngest Englishman to 50 wickets, but Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett moved ahead of him in third-seamer pecking order. An impressive tour of India pushed him firmly into one-day contention, however, and he was a virtual ever-present in limited-overs cricket in 2012, as England briefly topped the ODI rankings but failed in their World Twenty20 defence. Finn won a Test recall against South Africa but a habit of hitting the stumps in his delivery stride became costly when Graeme Smith drew attention to it at Headingley. The umpires decided to call dead ball and Finn was denied Smith's wicket. A few months later, 'Finn's Law' was created, making any wicket taken after a bowler had knocked over the stumps a no ball.

Injury curtailed Finn's involvement in the historic Test series win in India but he was back in the XI in New Zealand, beginning his longest run in the side since his debut. A shortened run-up was experimented with before being abandoned but his rhythm had been affected and, having played just once in England's Champions Trophy campaign, he was dropped after the first Test of the 2013 Ashes. After his tumultuous winter in 2013/14, he rebuilt his confidence with the aide of Middlesex bowling coach Richard Johnson. Finn was rewarded with an ODI recall against India in August 2014. For all the problems, England remained convinced that Finn was a bowler of rare talent.

ESPNcricinfo staff