Steven Finn, speaking exclusively to ecb.co.uk, says he feels close to rediscovering the form that will likely earn him an international recall.
Finn was yesterday withdrawn from England’s limited-overs squads in Australia and will return to the UK to continue working on technical aspects of his game.
The 24-year-old fast bowler, previously a regular for his country in all formats, did not play competitively on this tour, when he was also in the Ashes party, but remains positive.
Finn said: “There’s times on this trip where it’s felt so close to clicking and even as recently as a couple of days ago, bowling in the nets before the Prime Minister’s XI game, I bowled nicely, I bowled with decent pace, I bowled quite consistently.
“But it’s the infrequency of which that’s happened which is probably a little bit of a reason for me going home.
“It’s close to clicking and it’s not far away. And I actually don’t think it’s going to take too much to get me back to where I want to be, but I think the best environment for me to do that is back in England.”
Once home, Finn will have two weeks off before starting pre-season training with his county, Middlesex.
The seamer was yesterday included in England’s provisional squad for the World Twenty20, which starts in mid-March. However, he concedes he is unlikely to be picked for that or the limited-overs internationals with West Indies before it.
“It’s going to be difficult for me to put my hand up for selection for those because there’s going to be no cricket outdoors before that point to put my hand up for selection,” he added. “That might be slightly unrealistic for me.
“I’m not letting go of the hope that everything might click for me once I get back to England after a couple of weeks, but it’ll be difficult for me to push my claim for that tour.
“So I suppose the focus for me is getting back with Middlesex, really enjoying pre-season with Middlesex, playing some early-season cricket there at Lord’s and round the country, playing for Middlesex and then trying to put my hand up for those one-dayers against Sri Lanka in mid-May.”