Having only made his debut in March of this year against Bangladesh, called up to replace the injured Graeme Onions, Finn has made a lasting impact on the England team this summer taking 32 wickets at an average of 23.21 including consecutive five wicket hauls at Lords and Old Trafford in May and June.
On the docile pitches of the sub-continent he showed a level of patience well beyond his years and was duly rewarded a first home cap in the return series against the Tigers two months later. Finn's impact was instantaneous, carrying the England bowling display in the first Test at Lords with figures of 4 for 100 in the first innings, going one better in the second innings leading the attack to claim his first five wicket haul, finishing the match with a tally of 9 wickets and a first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. His award was a testament to the hard work and determination shown by the young fast bowler sending down a titanic 49 overs all together in back to back innings.
In a less attritional affair at Old Trafford Finn proved equally affective. With Bangladesh following on once again it took a mere 10 overs for Finn to extract five Bangladeshi batsman and secure an innings victory for his team. His performances in the two match series earned him his first Man of the Series Award and was enough to put Finn as odds on favourite to board the plane to Australia come November.
A further flurry of wickets in the first two Test matches against Pakistan affirmed his place in the England eleven and consequently his nomination for the award.
Finn beat Australia's Tim Paine, Pakistan's Umar Akmal, and Sri Lanka's Angelo Matthews to the title that was awarded to Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Graeme Swann and James Anderson were also included in the Test Team of the Year, and Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad selected in the One Day Team of Year.
Swann, who was also nominated for the Player of the Year Award picked up by Sachin Tendulkar, played 10 Test matches within the period under consideration for the award, between August 24, 2009, and August 10, 2010, claiming 49 wickets at an average of 27.55. Anderson notching up 41 wickets in two less matches at 22.53.
Interestingly had the consideration period been more accommodating to the English season and accounted for the final two Test matches between England and Pakistan, Swann would have taken 16 more wickets at an improved average of 23.72. His figures against Pakistan reading four matches, 22 wickets at 12.22! Quite amazing when you also consider he was initially overlooked in the preliminary shortlist, only added when the ECB voiced there bewilderment at his absence!
A successful year for England's limited overs team that included series wins over Australia and away to South Africa could not be ignored and it was Stuart Broad and Paul Collingwood who broke into the One Day Team of the Year for 2010.
Broad, who has been ever present for England in all forms of cricket this year featured in 19 competitive one day matches taking 37 wickets at an average of 24.45, including 10 wickets in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
Collingwood who again has been a regular feature in all England ventures this past year, racked up 24 matches in coloured clothes, averaging 47 with the bat and picking up 12 wickets. His performances on the tour of South Africa stood out in particular, hitting an unbeaten 105 at Centurion and averaging a colossal 91.66 in the four match series in which England triumphed 2-1, also claiming the Player of the Series Award after the final match was washed out.
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