Steven Finn will make his first appearance on the England squad since his Ashes nightmare as a replacement for injured paceman Liam Plunkett in the fourth Test against India.
Finn endured a torrid time in Australia over the winter, with his bowling regressing as England suffered an Ashes whitewash defeat. He has shown signs of his best form on his return to Middlesex this season, and that was enough to convince England selectors that he deserved a chance to prove himself on the international stage once again. Plunkett continues to suffer from an ankle injury.
While Finn has represented England’s limited-overs sides in the past, he has not played a Test since mid-2013 against Australia at Trent Bridge, and had fallen some way down the pecking order.
But he is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the LV County Championship Division One this season, with 44 in his 10 matches and an average of just under 30.
He has a career haul of 90 wickets in 23 Tests, with the series against India even at 1-1 with two more matches to play.
Plunkett, meanwhile, will be hoping to recover in order to play a role in the fifth Test at the Kia Oval, which starts on August 15.
The Yorkshire paceman, 29, has impressed on his return to the side with 18 wickets in four matches – including a Test best five for 64 against Sri Lanka – but was rested from the third Test at Southampton and replaced by Chris Jordan.
Meanwhile, English cricket county side Hampshire’s reward for beating Nottinghamshire in the final NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final at Trent Bridge is a clash with Lancashire on Finals Day – a bumper day of Twenty20 when the semi-finals and final of the competition take place on the same day at the same venue – on August 23. Surrey and Birmingham Bears, the other teams, will also feature at Edgbaston.
Captain James Vince led the way for Hampshire with an unbeaten 93 off 51 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes, to help his side to a five-wicket victory over the Outlaws, whose imposing total of 197 for two was overhauled with an over to spare.
