Finn returned home early from a nightmare Ashes tour with big question marks over his bowling, but judging by the first two County Championship matches of the campaign rehab, if we can call it that is going well.

The Watford-born pace-man already has 15 wickets at less than 17 apiece, giving the batsman of Sussex and Nottinghamshire the sort of hurry up by which he made his name.

New-ball partner Murtagh who knows ‘Finny’ better than most, never had the slightest doubt his mate would be back terrorizing batsmen and tail-enders alike and says reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated.

He said: “Steven Finn roaring in for Middlesex is a great sight to watch, especially bowling at the other end.

“I think he just needed games. A lot of it was in his head as well; an issue that perhaps people in the press and others were commenting on.

“People saying he was hitting the side net and had forgotten how to bowl almost was a bit of rubbish, really.

“He just needed to get out here for us and take a stack load of wickets, as he has done, and I knew he would do.

“Hopefully he’ll continue in that same vain and improve even more as the summer goes on. One day he’ll get his place in the England team back as well. When he’s fit and bowling well, he’s a handful.”

Murtagh knows only too well what it is like to endure a form slump, recalling 2010 where he took just 38 wickets and his knack of nipping people out with the new-ball seemed to desert him.

He said: “Everyone goes through it – no sportsmen, let alone cricketer continues at the level they would like to be at for their whole career. There are going to be peaks and troughs.”

He echoed the thoughts of Middlesex’s Director of Cricket Angus Fraser in suggesting Finn’s renaissance has some way to go yet, insisting it is important not to rush the 25-year-old back into the test arena.

“Even if you ask Steve he would like to get some regular games under his belt for us before anything more is even talked about, he added. “I think that’s exactly what he needs.

“He enjoys playing with us and just needs overs and confidence. As you’ve seen from the first couple of games, he’s not far away from where he would like to be, but there are obviously still improvements he’s wanting to make.

“He’s not far away though it may well be a long term process, but he is still only 25 with a lot of time ahead of him.”