Harry Finch, a pugnacious, squat top-order batsman, secured his maiden Championship hundred against Middlesex at Hove in 2018 in a season in which the head coach, Jason Gillespie, gave a clutch of young batsmen an opportunity for regular cricket. Finch was an ever-present in a side that narrowly missed promotion and was left with the task of building on a first-class average hovering around 30.

Finch had put the icing on a promising 2016 season with a century against the Pakistan tourists at Hove in an opening stand of 200-plus with Luke Wells. His maiden hundred in first-class cricket came against Leeds/Bradford MCCU earlier in the season. Finch made 17 appearances in all competitions for Sussex before his campaign was ended when he sustained a broken thumb; he was rewarded with a new two-year contract, only to break his thumb yet again playing club cricket in Australia. He was given ample opportunity to build on this promise in 2017, but managed only three half-centuries in 11 matches, a Championship-best 82 against Worcestershire representing his brightest moment.

Finch, who also bowls occasional right-arm medium-fast, hails from Hastings and began his Sussex career playing for the Under-13 team. He made his first-class debut in the final match of the 2013 season when Sussex overcame the County Champions Durham. He also won recognition from England Under-19s and was awarded his first professional contract for 2014.

Finch's appearances were restricted to a few goes in the shorter formats in 2014, but in his sole List A match against Glamorgan at Hove he made quite an impression, hammering 92 from 58 deliveries in a losing cause during a high-scoring game.

He hit 89 from 68 balls in a 50-over game against Kent at the start of 2019, but it proved something of a false dawn: it was his only fifty-plus score of the summer, and he ended his Championship season with five ducks in six innings. After a disappointing Bob Willis Trophy the following summer, he was informed his contract would not be renewed.
ESPNcricinfo staff