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Even if he produces good figures on this tour, the reality is that it could be completely unrelated to how he fares in the summer... And that could be just as damaging to England's Ashes hopes as any public spat and sacking could.

Harmison has had far too many chances. The return of an '04 version of Harmison would be a bonus for any team but we have to accept that this was a one-off blip in performance from an otherwise internationally below average and apparently disinterested bowler.

And lets not think it was coincidence that he started showing an interest in the shorter forms of the game once the big money was available in India!

Matthew Hoggard must be wondering what this bloke has done to deserve such preferential treatment. Hoggard had one bad game, coming back from injury too soon, and has since been overlooked at every available opportunity.

This has been said many times in the past, but harminson is surely in the last chance saloon. If he plays he has got to take his chance, there can be no excuses this time. If he fails here or doesnt play then i think his test career will be over.

The more you look at those figures (thanks for the info Tom) the more worrying it gets. It does seem as if 2004 - 2005 are the exception to the rule. It also appears that harminson is just a bully agains teams who struggle against pace. The better teams like the aussies and s.africa have been able to cope against him very well and have made him look very ordinary at times.

Harminson does look disinterested at times and i would suggest that the only reason why we stick with him is because he can bowl at 90 mph

Oh, and Harmison good in the Ashes 2005? Myth. He had a stunning first test, dismissed Michael Clarke with a great slow ball at another test, and that aside he was as absent as usual. The Ashes bowling depended on Jones and Flintoff, with the rest chipping in at various times.

I'm sorry but there's more to it than just bowling. Look at the man! Gutless, heartless, perennially "homesick". In Australia, abandoned everything because he just couldn't get back on a plane home quick enough. On the sub continent you can bet your house the first one with the "tummy" will be Harmison...but....how quickly things change when the IPL come rattling the cash tin. If we wanted a proper Test bowler then that man was poor Mathew Hoggard.....what an injustice!!

Its cronyism and it has gone on for far too long, not just with Harmless but lots of other players. It’s actually not the bad players that get to stay in the side just because they’re one of the boys that really bother me; it’s the good players that don’t get a fair run because they aren’t one of the boys.
It got beyond reason after they brought Giles in for Monty in the ashes.
Then there was Phil Mustard who looked to be the best hope for an English Gilchrist that I’ve seen and yet he gets replaced by two Muppets who can’t catch or bat.
Owis Shah, quite obviously a great batsman and he’s proved it more than enough times to not have to play second fiddle to Bell, Cook or the rest of the top order for that matter.
What about Denly? He’s the most impressive youngster I’ve seen for a while.
Then of course there’s Rob Key, he has suffered like so many other batsmen who started young and didn’t cut it. It doesn’t seem to matter how good you become later on, if you weren’t good first time round then sorry you missed that boat (Alright I’m a Kent fan but still it is ridiculous). Ramps would be another example of someone who has fallen foul of this one strike and you’re out attitude that appears to be applied very selectively. How many strikes will Harmless be allowed? How many was Vaughn allowed? How many more will Bell, Collingwood, Ambrose or Prior be allowed?
----------- BEGIN WICKET KEEPER RANT ---------
On a side note I think that before we get all carried away with looking for a wicket keeper who can bat we might want to find one who can consistently catch a cricket ball. Oh that’s right we did have one who could do both very briefly but he had to go because he was too old, the fact that he was one of the stand out players at the world cup for England obviously wasn’t important. He must have eaten Vaughn’s lunch or something.
----------- END WICKET KEEPER RANT ---------
Then there’s KP and his determination to get Vaughn selected even though he couldn’t bat his way out of a paper bag these days, soon after that we got an interview with Vaughn showing his support for KP, this is the most public display of the afore mentioned cronyism I have seen yet. At one time i thought most of this lunacy was probably a combination of Vaughn and the coach but they are both out now so why does it keep happening?
There is only one place other than the England team where you can get away with this sort of thing, the UK Government.

its a simple as this Harmy has mastered the funny handshake. Hoggy hasn't, mores the pity. No not Moores the pity either, if you see what i mean, not sure if i do any more or is it any moore. Maybe somebody from the ECB could enlighten me, level headed and clear thinkers that they are

Let's be honest, Harmison should be given a shot against the West Indies - if he pulls it out the bag then happy days. If not, then he's out. I think Jones needs to be involved if we're to win the Ashes - as does a different wicket keeper.

Thing is it is so temping to go for a player who we know can bowl so well and take wickets, which lets face it England do seem to struggle to do.

I don't think Hoggy and Harmy compete, I think the plan is to have variety in the attack and Sidebottom and Anderson swing it, which has led to Hoggy being left out. Although the Pattinson selection was truely stupid, lets not select Hoggy at Headingley when the others are injured.

Harmys role is the nasty fast bowler with plenty of pace and bounce.

I am not sure Ramps got just one chance he did play 52 tests over ten years averaged 27 and only scored 2 tons.

Wicketkeepers I agree on, although Prior does seem to have improved his keeping so he would be my gloveman at the moment.

Interesting stats - I didn't realise quite how mediocre Harmison had been throughout his test career.

Despite this, I think he needs to play. The man for me who should be missing out is Broad. Some players come in young, show promise and take the bull by the horns and cement their place in the team. For me, Broad hasn't done that. Shown promise, yes, but he's not a wicket taking threat. Harmison, Anderson, Flintoff and Sidebottom are. I'm not saying that Broad goes on the scrap heap, not at all, but for me he is not ready yet.

Totally agree though that this is last chance saloon for Harmison.

On the wicketkeeper topic - I've always thought this depends on whether you have a four-man or five-man bowling attack. If it's a five-man (including Flintoff) then Prior has to play, preferably at 6 for me as he is a better batsman than Flintoff. But if you've got 6 specialists, then Flintoff at 7, then there is nowhere near as much pressure on the 'keeper coming in at 8 to get runs - an average of 20 to 25 will suffice. In this instance the man has to be James Foster, but (like so many others) he is the forgotten man of English test cricket.

First test lineup:
Strauss, Cook, Shah, Pietersen, Collingwood, Prior, Flintoff, Sidebottom, Anderson, Harmison, Panesar

As Harmison fades away, Broad will come to the fore. Over the next two years I think he will develop into that 2004 version of Harmison. He has the same build and as he gathers experience and perhaps more strangth he will become a great bowler. Plus I think he'll become an all rounder, his batting technique is pretty solid.

I don't see how Harmison can justify a place in the side.

Surely Anderson, Sidebottom, Broad and Flintoff are ahead of him and there are a few pitches in the West Indies where you might want to play two spinners in any case (might explain why there are 3 in the squad).

Harmy can't be selected because of his pace as he doesn't have any nowadays, he can't provide the work rate of the others and his body breaks down every other test. If he wins an IPL contract then could luck to him but I don't want to see him in an England shirt again.

I don't see how Harmison can justify a place in the side.

Surely Anderson, Sidebottom, Broad and Flintoff are ahead of him and there are a few pitches in the West Indies where you might want to play two spinners in any case (might explain why there are 3 in the squad).

Harmy can't be selected because of his pace as he doesn't have any nowadays, he can't provide the work rate of the others and his body breaks down every other test. If he wins an IPL contract then good luck to him but I don't want to see him in an England shirt again.

Give the lad a break, he always seems to be the whipping boy he isn't the only bowler on the team.
We seem to be picking Broad more for his batting prowess at the moment than his bowling.
How many times have our bowling attack got us in a postion to win games, then the batsmen have failed miserably, and yet, especially under Vaughan, the bowlers have been re-shuffled .
I agree that the last Ashes series wasn't his best, but one thing you can't take away from the lad is his willingness to run in all day and bowl, and this is done when carrying various injuries, at least he doesn't shirk the job.
Harmison is a rhythm bowler and the more he bowls the better, thats why after a season bowling with Durham he was the best fast bowler in the country again, and on that form he scares batsmen

Great article. I was happy that England jettisoned GBH after the New Zealand tour and his apparently very poor performance. I was suspicious of his return versus South Africa once he had performed the necessary penance for failing to show 'ticker', but I hoped that he would finally click into gear. This article suggests that, like Michael Vaughan, his top form was a deceiving blip never to be repeated and sadly, we have been chasing shadows since.

Time to move on, but I dearly hope we are proven wrong - is there a better sight than Harmy rolling into the crease, throwing his left hand upwards and thumping the ball into the pitch to the general terror of the batsman. Also, Tom, he used to fiddle with the shirt even when the wickets were falling!

Have to agree, I didn't realise he was that average? 2004 really was a great 1 off but I knew he failed in SA afterwards. It also shows how much we miss Simon Jones! KLets hope he gets back in ASAP!

Why Harmison and Monty keep playing for Enhland Baffles me.
In Chennai, England lost maily becasue of these 2.
I would play Anderson ,Sidebottom, Swann, andBroad?or JOnes if fit. Feddie as 4th bowler.
This gives enough batting cover.
remmeber aussies will be defensive as well this ashes.

Cover your batting, score enough runs, and then bowl to your strenghts unlike aussies have done recently. Only then england can win.

And no Harmison.Cant think of any bowler who has had so many failures but still gets picked

Can we please stop the Harmison bashing?
You want to know why he's been selected, then look who his county side are (County champions 2008) and his stats for last season.
Harmison took 60 wickets in the CC, the most for any fast bowler (prove me wrong someone if i am wrong). So not only was he the best English bowler on the County circuit last season, but better than any of the Overseas imports.
England are a much better attack with Harmison included, full stoop!

pityakka87, it's not really full stop is it? Because taking first class wickets is not the same as taking international ones. Especially abroad, where he's been a shambles.

He's been on his last warning for two years, and even if we want to persist with him, selectors need to show some toughness as well as loyalty, or it lets players grow complacent. As the article below queries, does he really think this is his last chance any more? Why should he?

County cricket is not same as the international standard.
I am not convinced with his attitude when things dnt go his way or opposition players try to get into his skin.
For England's good they need the pace and bounce of Harmison when hes in form, not looking for the form.

only 2 players in current England and International setup have befitted are Zaheer with his spell with Worcs an Sidebottom.

Even Gibson took 10 wicket season before last i think. But is he International pedigree?
I honestlly think thast this is indeed last chance for Harmison.
He can bowl well against hapless Windies,get in frm home and away and then try to give it to aussies

"So not only was he the best English bowler on the County circuit last season, but better than any of the Overseas imports."

Whilst its true that 1st class wickets aren't an exact barometer of a bowler's international class, Harmison's return to county cricket last year did seen to indicate that there isn't exactly a mob of English quicks banging on the door. The seemingly never ending Harmison saga is caused by there being no international 90+ bowler come through the ranks in the past 6 years to replace him. Unfortunately, we seem to be stuck with him, at least for the time being - can anyone really press a case for Tremlett, Onions, Mahmood or any other county bowler instead? Everyone would love to see an English Steyn, Sharma, Johnson or Morkel coming through but there are no signs of it at the moment.

I do think that Harmison gets too much stick. As infuriatingly inconsistent as he can be, he does work hard. The bowling run-up is a lonely place to be when your confidence is shot.

This is an excellent piece. Rarely do you see an article using statistics to such a meaningful effect. Harmison's wickets per test average against SA, India and Australia is dismal. These are the 3 best teams in the world. The stats clearly show that Harmison is simply not good enough to dismiss high quality test batsmen on anything approaching a consistent basis.

His record against countries like Zimbabwe, WI, NZ and Bangladesh suggests he bowls well at batsmen who are essentially decent county batsmen. This was backed up by him taking 60 county wickets last year.

Unfortunately for Harmison, he will always be judged on his performances against the best teams, and the only conclusion one can draw right now is that he has never been good enough at the highest level of test cricket.

The selectors persistence with Harmison is staggering. People may say "there's no one else to pick" but if we clearly know Harmison is not good enough at test level, why not give some other bowlers an extended run in the team to at least find out if they are good enough. It's not like Harmison has had one or two bad series. In fact, he's only had one or two GOOD series.

England are carrying harmison and anderson-both are not international standard anymore!
Broad is under rated and under used and will be a force should open with sidebottom. Flintoff is over rated a worse bowling average than kallis and less wickets! The batting average differs by 20! Bring back hoggard

the team should be

strauss
cook
shah
kp
colly/bell/bopara
prior
broad
flintoff
Swann
Sidebottom
Hoggard

The batting line up is weak



England will play bell harmison panesar

Jimmy's doing well....the rest don't look like their up to much.........hey ho!!

Its not rocket science,

Harmison is simply the bowling equivalent of a Flat track bully. I´m not sure he quite has the guts under pressure to compete against the best. He undoubtedly has ability but he just doesn´t like the fight and against the very best that is the big difference.

Hick has 136 first class tons, one in every 6.4 innings, he has 6 test tons, one in every 19 innings! Harmison is the same thing and I´m getting worried about Bell too.

For me I would pick a keeper who is the best keeper, Chris Read. Playing a batter as a keeper is like what we did when we tried all manner of players as "allrounders" in the 90´s. If you have someone good enough then great, if not pick a specialist. We didn´t play Salisbury 100 times just becasue the Aussies had Warne. Why play Prior because of the likes of Sangakarra and Dhoni?

Hoggard is the unluckiest man in English cricket. he has taken more test wickets at a better average than Harmison, runs in all day, has a huge heart and has helped win matches and series for England against proper teams (SA and India away for a start)

Could go on allday, won´t though as starting to bore myself.

p.s. Flintoff should play at 8 as a bowler. He is no better a batsmen than Shaun Pollock, infact he is closer to Vettori with the bat than a test no 6.

He is a great bowler though although incredibly unthreatening it would seem!

Zzzzzz....oh dear! Is that Harmless getting smacked all over the park? By whom? Why, the Windies second string, that's whom !! Aaah! His test place is secured, fear not!...Oh well, glad that world order is restored,...........zzzzzzzzzzz

Hmm....so the jury is out again on Harmison eh? .........Haven't we done this before?

Form or not, it isn't far off the time when age will naturally reduce Harmison's ability to generate pace for long spells..(many would argue he has never done that anyway!!!). I would say he doesn't have the accuracy/guile ability (of say Lillee or Willis) to prolong much after the next year or so .....

I agree that Broad should be given more of an attacking commission. At the moment he seems to be being groomed into a tidy support bowler. Why not give him a Test or two on suitable wickets (in the WI) with a licence to just.... let rip..!!!

I'm also strongly hopeful that Simon Jones can make a comeback this summer although of course he too will be in his 30's. But, he is a proven "significant" wicket taker...which has been hard for England to find since he got injured and importantly is not as one dimensional as Harmison, which for me would give him more longevity as a Test bowler.

i agree with pityaka, i am getting sick of hearing harmison getting bashed off every pundit and random reporter in the land.
217 test wickets in 50 odd test matches is not to bad is it ?Its about time we backed harmison and england to win test maches again.

"Skipper Andrew Strauss (right) tries to coax Steve Harmison into action"

Caption attached to photo from yesterdays play against WI "A"

It about sums it up...........

A lot of this I feel is down to the constant nannying and mis-management by the England set-up - especially with regard to inadequate tour itineraries...it has cost Harmison the chance to become one of test cricket's greats.

I understand the temptation to give Harmison another chance, but if he proves to be wholly average yet again in the West Indies he should be scrubbed.

I want to see Jones back in the side again--after impressing in the 2005 Ashes, his crime seems only to have been getting injured. He has some real fire in his belly, and we'll need a lot of that if we're to compete this summer.

And as for the batting, I simply don't understand why Collingwood is there. Bell can be excellent, but he's inconsistent.

If we're going to be taken seriously this summer, we need to throw some caution to the wind. Let's drop some of the tierd, mediocre wood and put together a fresh side. Yes, it'll be raw, and likely inconsistent, but it'll be full of passion, energy and a desire to impress. Unfortunately, I don't think Strauss to the man who can do this.

Oh well. I'll just dream of Ashes glory in 2011!

Harmison ha had a riculous amount of chance compared to other players, i bet other teams relish the oppurtunity for Harmison to play, he is awful

After all is said and done, the game is over, we've been trounced, yet, after all the critiscism on here about Harmy, the lad still took the most wickets, move onto some of the other bowlers.
I think the big problem people have with him is that he's an enigma, he wears his heart on his sleeve and isn't afraid to do what he feels is right for him and his family.

Fact – batsmen don’t like facing fast bowlers; especially if they’re tall and capable of extracting unexpected extra bounce
Fact – Steve Harmison is the only bowler in any of the names being touted in this discussion with a history of putting top Test batsmen in a bit of physical discomfort
Let’s not get bogged down solely on stats when trying to justify selections. Some contributions are less tangible. You can’t put a numerical value on a bowler smashing a batsman’s knuckles, bruising his ribs or rattling his head in the can with a perfect bouncer. Similarly, it’s impossible to quantify or give credit for the number of times a batsman, relieved to get away from the ‘chin music’ gets out playing a slack shot to Harmy’s partner.
Harmison get’s the extra selection chances because he has the potential to bring something that the others bowlers rarely offer – giving the batsman a good going over. Agreed, he doesn’t always realise that potential, but then I’d rather have an out and out quickie in the team than go back to the 80’s days of four trundlers and a 33rpm ‘spinner’.

Come on Ted. When was the last time "soft as clarts" Harmison hit anyone above the knee roll never mind the knuckles. You might as well argue that we should bring back Bob Willis or Devon Malcolm as they have the "potential" to bring something other bowlers haven't got.
FACT - the stats prove that apart from 1 good year Harmy has continued to let us down.

As I said Nippa, he still took the most wickets for us, thats a statistic!

I give up! I should have known that I was batting on a green track trying to overcome the English love of medium pace. So why fight it.
Let's get all the coaches out there to tell any budding young quick bowlers to chop their run-ups, half their pace and concentrate on line and length wibbly wobbly dobber dross. I can't wait to see the England squad once again chocka-block with bowlers made from the same mould as Pringle, Ealham, Ellison, Allott, Foster, Agnew, Martin, Mallender, Jackman, Newport (feel free to add here from the hoardes of drab trundlers we've selected in the past)..... and neither, I suspect, can the Aussies