Steve Finn proves expensive despite wickets for England against Cricket Australia Invitation XI at SCG

STEVE Finn may bowl England to victory on Saturday but he has bowled himself out of the first Test.

Steve Finn runs in to bowl at the SCG on Friday.

STEVE Finn may bowl England to victory on Saturday but he has bowled himself out of the first Test.

England's fastest bowler has proved he is the master of the long hop above all else.

The cobbled together Cricket Australia Invitation XI is 4-153 in its second innings at the SCG, just 39 ahead with a day to play.

And Finn already has a wicket to go with the five he claimed in the first innings.

However, the glaring question is at what cost.

The greatest benefactor from Finn on Friday wasn't England but Australian cricket's greatest enigma, Aaron Finch.

A white ball slogger and red ball nicker, Finch could not have been more pleased with what Finn dished up.

Having started the first class season with a king pair last week and then four in the first innings of this match, Finch must have felt the calendar had suddenly skipped six weeks and it was December 25.

Finch's two most devastating shots are the cut and the pull, and Finn spoon fed them both.

The Victorian right hander's 50 came from just 40 balls with 10 fours and he was caught a short time later for 59 skying a ball from spinner Graeme Swann attempting to hit another six.

Finn will resume Saturday morning, weather willing, with figures of 1-53 from 11.3 overs after taking 5-103 from 28.4 overs in the first innings.

He is England's most successful bowler in this match, but also by far the most expensive, a worrying sign against largely NSW second XI opposition.

England bowling coach David Saker, the former Victorian and Tasmanian seamer, has a simple philosophy. Test match bowling is not about 10 good balls but four good sessions.

Finn may charm wickets but he is unable to build pressure, a fundament fault which England will not tolerate.

He is still only 24 and has plenty of time to improve. With 90 wickets in 23 Tests his strike rate of a wicket every 48 balls is world class.

Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad have strike rates approaching 60 while some of the best of all time, Dennis Lillee and Glenn McGrath, have strike rates of 52.

However the balance is the economy rate. While Finn concedes almost four runs an over Broad and Anderson give away barely three. With McGrath and Lillee it was closer to two and a half.

Finn's struggle for consistency raises a more significant question about England's quest to unsettle Australia with tall bounce bowlers.

The raw Irishman Boyd Rankin has also bowled too short. He's been less expensive than Finn but has made little impact, with just one wicket in each innings.

Resting tall quick Chris Tremlett will partner Broad and Anderson in the first Test at the Gabba beginning on Thursday.

But even then Tremlett's uncertain record of fitness and form suggests he too is as much a question as an answer.

He is 32 and has played just 11 Tests, claiming 49 wickets at 27.

His best series was the 17 wickets he claimed at 23 in three Tests against Australia during the last Ashes here. Can lightning strike twice?