Adam Finch says being able to bounce back from challenging situations will help him with his goal of wanting to become a senior and trusted member of the Worcestershire attack.
The 22-year-old says he is able now to deal more positively with combating the ups and downs of a cricketing career as he prepares for this week’s LV=Insurance County Championship encounter with Leicestershire at Oakham School.
Pace bowler Finch demonstrated that belief during the drawn game with Yorkshire at New Road when he conceded 48 runs in five overs on the opening day.
He responded 24 hours later by completing his second five-for of the season and in the process reached 50 first class wickets in his career.
It followed on from his maiden five wicket haul against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in May and Finch is currently top of Worcestershire’s 2023 bowling averages for Championship cricket with 19 wickets at 28.10 from five matches.
Finch said: “I want to show that, if I back myself into a corner, I can scrap my way out of it. That was my kind of thought process the night after that day one against Yorkshire.
“I wasn’t best pleased with myself. I wasn’t happy. It definitely wasn’t one of my best starts to a game.
“But one of the things I’ve started trying to challenge myself on is, if something like that does happen, then it’s about your next impact, your next contribution to the game.
“I told myself I was not kind of going by the wayside because that first day hadn’t gone well. I was going to come back the next day and do all the things that have stood me in good stead throughout the year and not let that affect me.
“I’m really proud of myself for how I dealt with that situation, and how I came back from that and to kind of show a bit of grit and determination.
“That is a real big development for me, to get me to a place where I want to be, in terms of I want to be one of those guys that is a senior member of the attack, a senior leader of the attack and one of those guys that people can trust in all formats going forward.
“I think for me that was a bigger milestone than the five-for or a bigger milestone than the 50 wickets, just showing people that I’ve got the ability to come back from scenarios that weren’t exactly ideal or perfect.
“I obviously don’t want to put myself in those situations in the first place but if it happens I’m going to be the one that has got to stand up and put it right rather than hope someone like Joe (Leach) bowls a great spell, takes three or four wickets, and it’s all forgotten.”
Finch returned 5-74 to record that first five-for against Glamorgan and he had figures 5-100 – including 5-52 on the second day – versus Yorkshire.
He said: “Five-fors are tricky to come. The first one against Glamorgan was a real monkey off my back scenario.
“It meant I could play without being too fixated on that kind of milestone and that helps me to be a bit more free.
“Ultimately all I ever try to do when I play is make a positive contribution to the team and, if that is in taking five-fors, it is what it is.
“But if it’s a couple of wickets here or there, or bowling tricky overs like at Durham at the start of the season, I’m happy to do that.
“Those kind of things look after themselves if you do the right things.”
Finch has also made valuable contributions with the bat in different circumstances this summer.
He struck three sixes in a Vitality Blast game final over off Matthew Fisher to defeat Yorkshire at New Road and then in contrast added 63 in nearly 36 overs with Ben Gibbon to defy the Tykes attack in last week’s Championship meeting.
He said: “Myself and Ben did it against Durham last year and I remember batting with Dolly (Brett D’Oliveira) against Glamorgan in my first year.
“It was a really good kind of period for myself and Ben to be in. It was a pretty clear scenario. We just needed to scrap and battle.
“There wasn’t a lot of funkiness we needed to try and get from that scenario. We had to be solid in defence and, if we got a good ball, then we got a good ball.
“We were just pleased to try and wrestle a bit of momentum back from that game and prevent that follow on coming earlier because that could have made a real tricky period.
“If one of us had got out early, it would have meant another 40 overs for the batters to face that day.”
So after a first – and then second – five-for, is a maiden first class 50 another target for Finch?
He said: “Definitely. I think it could be a slow one! My red ball cricket is still progressing.
“I’ve been pretty chuffed with how my white ball batting and power hitting has come on but there is still a little bit of development with my red ball game in terms of understanding moving through the gears and taking on certain shots when I can.
“A lot of the time you find yourself batting with a recognised batter so you don’t want to give your wicket away cheaply trying to do something, and look like a bit of an idiot.
“That would be a milestone too but there is a little bit of work to go into it before I achieve that one.”
