And he is too thin. So thin his belt almost makes it around his waist a second time. But then, looks and first impressions can be deceptive.
England bowler Steven Finn is capable of bowling 150kmh, spitting and hissing thunderbolts, and there is nothing polite or frail about that. Ask any batsman.
But for the next five weeks, the 22-year-old will be using his skills for good, not evil. He is here to play for Otago in its opening four Plunket Shield matches.
He arrived in Dunedin on Tuesday night after a 40hr trip and was still trying to shake off the jet lag when the Otago Daily Times caught up with him at Dunedin cafe Madly British yesterday.
Despite the arduous trip, the mild-mannered Finn spoke passionately about his desire to return to the England test team.
That is what has brought him to Dunedin. He is, perhaps, old-fashioned in that way. The lure of twenty/20 and its lucrative contracts may be part of his future, but right now test cricket is what drives him to train and look for opportunities to improve his game.
"I want to play for England in all three formats but, first and foremost, test cricket is my priority," he said.
"That's why I'm here playing four-day cricket - to give myself the best chance to make that next test team in January.
"I grew up watching test cricket, and at the end of the day you are judged by your test stats, nothing else, really. You can be renowned as a good one-day or twenty/20 bowler, but I want people to remember me for being a good test bowler."
The 2m-tall right-armer has fallen out of favour of late. But he made a big splash in his third test for England with a man-of-the-match performance against Bangladesh at Lord's in May 2010. He took nine wickets and got on the honours board with five for 87 in the second innings.
"Playing for Middlesex, I had sat in that dressing room many times and looked at the board and thought it would be nice for my name to be up there one day.
To achieve that was good and it happened a lot sooner than I ever imagined."
While Finn has not played test cricket since June, he did tour India with England for the five-game one-day series and one-off twenty/20 game.
England got thrashed in the one-day series, losing 5-0, but Finn took eight wickets in the series and was reasonably pleased with his form.
All going well, Finn will make his Otago debut against Canterbury in Rangiora next week.
"In that first game, if I'm bowling first, it is important that I set the right tone. My main focus here is to help win games of cricket."
And despite an agreeable demeanour, he is not afraid of the odd stoush.
"To get the best out of yourself, sometimes you have to get in a battle with the batsman. You want to get him out and do everything you can to get his wicket. If that means trying to unsettle him, then so be it."
Before arriving in New Zealand, Finn quizzed England team-mate and former Otago batsman Jonathan Trott as to what it would be like here. Trott had one very successful season for Otago in 2005-06.
"He [Trott] said it was going to be a great experience and said I wouldn't believe how small the grounds actually were compared to what we are used to playing on back in England. But he was very supportive of me coming over here."
Sometimes, the faster you bowl the faster you disappear off the bat, so Finn was relieved to hear the University Oval had been expanded since Trott played here.
