da 888casino： Steve Harmison finally began bowling on the tour of Sri Lanka but his six overs cost 48 on the second day of England’s warm-up match
da pixbet： Andrew Miller at Colombo CC21-Nov-2007
Michael Vaughan will hope he can get the best out of Steve Harmison, whose first six overs on tour went for 48 after a delay caused by his boots being lost in transit © AFP
Steve Harmison’s return to England colours was brief andunspectacular. He was unable to take any part in the morning sessionat the Colombo Cricket Club, after a computer error at Dubai Airportleft him bereft of his precious bowling boots, and even when they didturn up at 2.30pm, they had little impact on his performance. Hisfirst six overs were milked for 48 runs, including six no-balls and awide, as the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI racked up an imposing 500for 5 declared.But afterwards Harmison declared himself satisfied with his work-out,and insisted he was here to fight for the place that was once his byright. “June was the last time I played,” he said, having beensidelined for most of the English season after a hernia operation.”Others have got the England shirt, so all I can do is fight. I’m notgoing to bullshit. If it’s good enough I’ll play on the first ofDecember [in the first Test at Kandy]. If it’s not, then the peoplewho have earned their place will keep their place. I just want thechance to prove to everybody I want to play for England.”That desire has been questioned in several quarters ever sinceHarmison’s form fell away during last winter’s Ashes, most notably inthe opening match at Brisbane when, by his own admission, he “froze”.But he himself put his struggles down to a simple lack of time in themiddle. “In the past we still had bowlers knocking on the door, but Iwent through a long period of not being injured. Now I can’t get ridof an injury without another one cropping up.”I need to spend some time on the park, and if I do that and bowlproperly, I feel I’m as good as anyone in England,” said Harmison.”When I’m not bowling that well, and coming back [from injury] all thetime, then there are better bowlers than me. I’m not the best 80mphbowler, but when I hit my straps and bowl 90mph, not many bowlers inEngland can do that.”To aid his recuperation, Harmison spent a fortnight in South Africawith the Highveld Lions, accompanied by his England bowling coach andformer Durham team-mate Ottis Gibson. He took 13 wickets in twomatches, which is more than he managed in an entire Test andfirst-class programme on England’s tour in 2004-05, but by his ownadmission, his figures were somewhat flattering.”I’m not going to lie to you,” said Harmison, “in my first game my 6for 91 looked good … from England. From South Africa it wasn’t verygood. But it was getting better all the time and I’m being realistic.I want to play for England, I’ve always wanted to play for England,but I’ll have to wait and see. I’m here to fight but whether I play ornot is not my decision. I’ve got nothing to prove to anyone butmyself.”Harmison has had his recent performances dissected from so many anglesthat he was not about to read too much into a rusty first outing innew, slower, conditions. Besides, he was happy to look on the brightside of an arduous two days for his side. “England have got to behappy with the way things have gone,” he said. “In these games there’stwo ways to look at it. If a team gets bowled out for very little thenyou’re unprepared for when a team gets 450 for 5. Each individualbowler got what they wanted out of the game, and hopefully if we can geta full day’s batting tomorrow, then it’s a successful game. The resultis irrelevant.”Before and after tea we were experimenting with the ball,” he added.”How we get that ball to work for us is key because we have to get itto reverse swing as quickly as we can. I sent down a couple of oversof cross-seamers, and the little guy [Kaushal Silva] played well,pulling chunks out of my length, but at the end of the day I wasn’ttoo bothered. I’d rather experiment in this game than on December 2.”
