Middlesex one-day captain Steven Finn has been speaking after his side’s six wicket defeat by Essex at Radlett CC in the Royal London One-Day cup on Thursday.

The 6ft 7in paceman – appointed to lead the Seaxes’ 50-over side for the first time, with club captain Dawid Malan unavailable as he prepares for England’s first Test against Pakistan – spoke after the disappointing loss to the Eagles.

Middlesex’s Royal London Cup record is modest as they have yet to qualify for the knockout stages since the competition replaced the old 40-over format in 2014 – and they failed to get off to a winning start against their visitors as Tom Westley hit an impressive 134 off 119 balls.

Finn said: “In both innings we started well. With the bat, a platform of 70-odd for no wicket after 12 overs was good on that track but we lost wickets in clusters, which didn’t help us. It’s about fighting through important situations in the game to make sure we have a batsman in at the end.

“Then with the ball, we kept it tight for the first six overs, but it was hard to defend that score once two batsmen got in and we dropped two chances and the guy went on to get 134, which in the end cost us the game.

“So it could have been different. There were signs of promise, but we need to be a lot better on Sunday against Kent, who got a hiding today and that’s a good opportunity for us to put things right.”

Middlesex, who tasted defeat at Radlett for only the second time, were left to rue dropping Westley twice – the first of those when he had made only 12.

The Essex batsman was given his second life on 78 when Stirling failed to hang onto a chance at mid-wicket – but by then the visitors were well on their way to a resounding win.

Chopra eventually departed for 59, stumped off Ravi Patel (3-41) – who also claimed the late wickets of Westley and Dan Lawrence (35) before Essex sealed victory at 253-4.