|
Not many would expect Steve Harmison to be a force to be reckoned with in Dhaka's National Stadium. But I think he has got a huge role to play for us out here and in the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Steve took a lot of criticism early in the summer for not rolling over sides with his express pace on more helpful surfaces. So why should he succeed here? Because when you get a tall fast bowler on wickets which do keep low there is no batsman in the world who fancies that proposition. And Steve is now finding his game in Test match cricket.
Looking back to our last Test at The Oval, it was his four for 33 in South Africa's second innings, when he took the wickets of Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis in successive overs, that set up our victory. Whatever surfaces he has got to bowl on during this tour, his attitude since arriving in Dhaka has ben unbelievable.
He has trained as hard as anyone in the heat and has bowled with real purpose on dull
wickets to get pace and bounce.
As a captain that's just what I want; to have a bowler who you can call upon at any time to bowl the unplayable ball which will rise in front of the face of the batsman and induce the gloved catch. Once the opposition get that worry into their minds and start thinking about moving on to the back foot, then the really fast delivery that keeps low - and they do a lot out here - is equally dangerous.
On Saturday, Duncan Fletcher identified Steve, Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Andy Flintoff and Jimmy Anderson as the five bowlers who could win the Ashes back for us in 2005.
In the unfortunate absence of Freddie Flintoff here, it is still a matter of some debate between Duncan and myself who will make up our attack this week.
Do we still go in with five specialist bowlers or do we make sure we get the runs on the board?
We may not make up our minds until shortly before the toss. Whichever way we go I am pleased to say that this squad is fit and ready for the job.
By Courtesy of the Daily Mail
|