His place in the England Test side may be viewed by some to have a question mark hanging over it following the form shown by Chris Woakes, but Steven Finn is determined not to the let the pressure get to him, insisting he has turned a corner following his performances at Lord’s.

A natural wicket-taker, fast bowler Finn initially struggled in the opening two Tests against Sri Lanka, picking up just four wickets at Leeds and Chester-le-Street.

The Middlesex man was given a vote of confidence by captain Alastair Cook in the build up to the final Test at Lord’s and Finn duly delivered on his home ground with a mini-burst of bowling that prompted a batting collapse in Sri Lanka’s first innings.

He finished with 3-59 and while Monday’s weather ultimately put paid to any hopes of an England win, Finn could hold his head high with the fact that he had rediscovered some of his rhythm with the ball.

It was all the more important given that Woakes – an injury replacement for Ben Stokes – finished with eight wickets and an average of more than 50 with the bat from his two tests.

Finn will struggle to match his teammate when it comes to batting averages but his bowling variety could yet swing it for him, with selectors facing some tricky decisions ahead of next month’s series with Pakistan with Stokes also aiming to return to fitness.

“I’d have liked more wickets and to have bowled better in the Test series for sure, but as the series moved on I got a bit better,” said Finn.

“My return in Durham definitely reflected the way that I bowled – as I didn’t go particularly well – but at Lord’s I was really happy back on my home ground where I have bowled a lot of overs.

“I felt like something clicked a bit there, so I’ll be looking to take that into this series and hopefully if I play I’ll be looking to take the new ball and take early wickets.

“You’re always under pressure a little bit, and you have to be on your game playing for England as there’s always people waiting in the wings.

“Woakesy is a prime example of that as he’s come in, bowled beautifully, batted excellently as well and taken his opportunity with both hands.

“That competition is always healthy and good for us as a side. There was pressure on me at the Lord’s game I suppose, but if you play like you’re under pressure that’s never going to serve you well.

“You always need to enjoy playing Test match cricket, and relax when you get out there. That’s what I tried to do in that test and I came through it OK.”

For England, attention now turns towards the Royal London One Day Series against Sri Lanka, which gets underway at Trent Bridge next Tuesday.

Finn has been named in the 14-man squad for those games and, while England may have wrapped up a 2-0 Test series win, the 27-year-old expects a stern challenge from the Sri Lankans in the shorter version of the game.

“Obviously we’re switching between formats now and the squad changes considerably for the next phase of the summer, but we can take a lot of confidence from the way that we played against Sri Lanka,” he added.

“But Sri Lanka also have a lot of different players coming in for the Royal London One Day Series, so they will feel refreshed and invigorated and I thought they played a lot better cricket towards the back end of the Test series.

“They will take heart from that and of course we can never take them lightly.

“Classically, apart from the 2013/14 Ashes, the side that loses the Tests comes back a lot stronger in the one-dayers because they are far more determined to get one over on your opposition.

“No-one wants to leave a tour having not won a game, so they’ll be at us. They are excellent at one-day cricket and always go far at world tournaments so we need to be very wary.”

Steven Finn was speaking at a Sri Lankan inspired cooking event hosted by Royal London, proud sponsors of One-Day cricket.