Despite standing at six-foot-four, you may have to look slightly higher to catch Worcestershire seamer Adam Finch, at the moment, as he is standing that much taller after enjoying one of his best performances in the Vitality Blast on Sunday.
A couple of days on from his side’s narrow defeat away to Lancashire Lightning, the Rapids’ bowler produced a superb spell to help blow away Yorkshire, en-route to a comprehensive 60-run victory at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
Finch, helped himself to 2-19 from his four overs, displaying an array of skills that he says have been honed by spending some time with T20 recruits Jacob Duffy and Ben Dwarshuis.
“They’re two high quality bowlers and I’ve really enjoyed over the last week or so picking their brains to understand exactly those little skills and those little instincts they get about the powerplay and about the death.
“Having two guys like Duffers and Dwarshy, around to kind of pick their brains and learn off is really helpful. They definitely showed their class and used those change ups and variations just as much as the top of the stumps deliveries really well.
“It’s something that’s constantly in the evolution of mine, trying to develop skills and not be one dimensional. I think that’s something I’ll continue to do over the course of the tournament. It’s a difficult skill to bowl those sorts of deceptive slower balls and that’s why those two are some of the best in the world at it.”
Partnerships seem to be a theme around the squad at present, with the overseas bowling duo and the wider bowling unit not the only segment of the team experiencing some timely success.
The cohesion across the playing group is widespread, with batters Brett D’Oliveira and Adam Hose putting together a formidable partnership of 117 during the clash with Yorkshire, not just benefitting their individual form.
Finch, says that the two batters set the blueprint for their side and the bowlers followed their lead.
“Those two are two big leaders in our group and they did exactly what they asked everybody else to do.
“They were really aggressive in their decision making and back themselves 100%. I think you saw that in their shot selections and how they went about their business during that phase.
“I think when you talk about leading by example, those two did that exactly. That was really impressive.”
The pattern of taking wickets at key intervals has been central to the recent spike in form, with Worcestershire rounding off the Rothesay County Championship picking up a win and a draw, before pushing Lancashire all the way in the opening Blast fixture.
With a bowling attack that now boasts renewed confidence and variety, it was no surprise to see the Rapids reduce the visitors to 51-6 at one stage on Sunday.
After removing the danger man, Dawid Malan, without scoring, the hosts were full of belief – something they must retain moving forward in the competition.
Finch explained, “they are a really powerful, strong batting lineup, so to get a couple of wickets in that power play was really crucial. We did what we spoke about as a group.
“We tried to be brave and hold our lengths, and thankfully the pitch gave us a little bit of support in that.”
Winning by such a healthy margin, puts the Rapids in good shape within the North Group, but Finch, is more than confident his side have enough resilience to get through any challenging periods.
“I back this group even if we did happen to go on a run over a couple of losses to change the momentum. It’s a really tight, close group and we know that just as if you win a couple of games and get some momentum, you can lose a couple of game and lose it.
“So, I back this group from any position, regardless of results, to keep the motivation the momentum for that.”
