When a 14-year-old Steve Finn put England’s new opening  bat Andrew Strauss on his backside with a bouncer in an impromptu net session at Finchley, he was immediately earmarked as a future England XI player.

Fast, headstrong and injury-prone, his career was to be filled with soaring highs and lows, the province of many fast bowlers who can bowl at withering speeds.

He was twice on hat-tricks against old foe Australia, including Trent Bridge 2013 when he dismissed Shane Watson and Ed Cowan in successive balls late on Day 1. The roar as he surged to the crease for his hat-trick ball to Australia’s captain Michael Clarke was deafening.

Few were quicker. At his very best he often clocked a Wood-like 153 km/h (95 mph). He hit the pitch hard and could take it away from the right-handers.

Yet, despite having a lead hand in three Ashes successes, he was to spend just as much time rehabbing as on the field and was rarely among the first chosen, especially given the presence of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.

He was sent home from two Ashes tours and was referred to being ‘unselectable’ in 2013-14, prompting him to say he felt ‘like a human dartboard’ and often withdrawing, spending touring nights staring at the ceiling.

His autobiography ‘The Ashes Files’ is frank and brutal, his highpoint coming at rowdy Edgbaston in 2015 when he dismissed the world’s No.1 batsman Steve Smith twice in a man-of-the-match performance. ‘I’m fully in love with cricket again,’ he says. ‘Bowling felt effortless; it was like the crowd’s energy was carrying me… I would have bowled the entire day, no problem.’

On dismissing Clarke and Adam Voges with successive balls, he says: ‘I was running away celebrating, getting mobbed by my teammates and the noise was unbelievable. If I could relive any single moment of my international career, it would be standing at the top of my mark and preparing to bowl the hat-trick ball to Mitchell Marsh. It felt like the whole of Birmingham, let alone Edgbaston was egging me on.’ His outswinger was allowed to pass but he felt he could take another wicket ‘at any time’.

He says it was a privilege to be in the same Test XIs as champion duo Anderson and Broad: ‘We will probably never see bowlers with the same resilience. They racked up over 350 Test caps between them; truly incredible.’

The fastest, scariest bowling he ever witnessed was from Australian Mitchell Johnson in 2013-14 and the lowest moment of all was being smashed for 49 from two overs in Wellington, the majority to Brendon McCullum, during the 2015 World Cup.

He recalls the scathing criticism from David Lloyd who unfairly accused him of having the yips and says he takes those words into his Test Match Special commentaries each and every day, trying to be balanced and reinforcing how cruel big-time sport can be.

Self-doubts and depression issues plagued him throughout his career. ‘I remember how hurt I was by some of the ill-informed coverage when I was sent home from Australia (in 2013-14) and never want to fall into the trap of being lazy in my analysis.

‘When you are removed from the game, it’s easy to feel like the players are robots, or video-game characters who should never make mistakes, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.’

He says he is proud to have represented England 126 times, but there is neither a breakdown or detail of his stats; nor an index. A foreword from one of his old teammates is also lacking.

But The Ashes Files remain an insider’s book of quality and entertaining insights, like the time Steve Smith smashed a huge 6 at Cardiff and said to Finn: ‘That’s huge son’ or when the destroyer Mitchell Johnson told Finn how he relaxed on the field by singing kid’s songs to himself.

• Finn’s 125 Test wickets came at a world-class strike-rate of 51 balls

per wicket. He also took 100+ white-ball wickets.