Wine ‘bribe’ inspires England cricketer

A “bribe” of four cases of wine offered by fellow team mates helped England cricketer Steven Finn inspire his side to an unlikely draw against New Zealand.

It looked as though England’s first Test of a three-match series against the Kiwi’s would end in a win for the home side after England collapsed to 167 all out in the first innings. But Finn, who came in to bat as a nightwatchman at the end of the fourth day, set about frustrating New Zealand’s bowlers during England’s second innings and pushing the first Test to a draw.

And after the match Finn revealed that two of this team mates, captain Alastair Cook and fellow fast bowler Jimmy Anderson, had each offered him two cases of wine if he could bat through the morning and to the afternoon tea break.

After the match Finn said: “All I know is there will be a few cases of wine being sent to my house back in England.

“I think it was a case of wine from Cook and a case from Jimmy if I saw it through to lunch, and then tea. So I’ve got four cases of wine coming my way, I think.”

Finn batted for five hours, making 56 runs from 203 balls, his maiden first-class half century, and with further centuries from Cook and Nick Compton England have kept the series against New Zealand all-square despite the poor start.

Cook said he was happy to honour the bet and said he would consider similar bribes in the future. He said: “Bribing Steven seemed to work, so maybe we can apply that again. He gets well-rewarded for his efforts today. He’s done very well out of a few of the lads.

“He showed that when you really put your mind to something and you are very disciplined anyone can make themselves very hard to get out.”

Finn will only have a couple of days to enjoy his wine as the second Test match starts on Thursday at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.