I don't like Cricket

Let's keep our heads over Harmy

A lot of cricket fans in Blighty have felt angry, let down, and simply embarrassed by England's start to this Ashes series. But, while there has been plenty to criticise, both in terms of on the pitch performances and off the pitch preparations, some of the critical outpourings, in the press and on the blogs, have been thoughtlessly over the top, or just plain deluded.

Richard William's piece in the Guardian, "Harmison must shape up or be shipped out", was a case in point. Williams here launched into a virtual character assassination, suggesting that Harmison has always been keen to use the excuse of an injury to duck out of matches, and that he has technical deficiencies which mark him down as a bowler and will probably never be rectified. He concluded his article:

Thanks not least to his own deficiencies in the first innings, Harmison is unlikely to get another chance to bowl in this match. So before the second Test
next Thursday he should be given a series of thorough work-outs in the nets, and
then told to go out and perform like a champion. England will need a result in
Adelaide if they are to salvage anything from this tour. And if Harmison cannot
help them provide it then he should be given the permission he has sought in the
past, and sent home.

Why didn't you headline it "Barmy Harmy", and have done with it, Richard?

On the same theme, in the Observer today, Rod Marsh - in a generally excellent article - argued that Harmison's selection was a farce, and that if he wasn't fit for the last warm up match, he shouldn't have played in the First Test. On another blog I even read a cock-eyed Durham fan claim that Harmison was never any good, and that Plunkett could out-bowl him any day. And that Plunkett & Macleane was the best film of the last 20 years.

It's understandable why people should feel exasperated by Harmison. Yes, he should be able to apply better control than he's managed so far, even without much cricket behind him. But it was entirely right he was picked for Brisbane, and equally right that he should be picked for Adelaide. Here's why:

1) Harmison is our main strike bowler. If we are to stand a chance of victory, he has to have a good series. He's so vital to us - especially on these wickets - we have to take a punt on him.

2) There is no alternative. It's not as if by dropping Harmy we'd solve our bowling problems. I'm not sure how many people have noticed but Anderson's figures for the First Test (1-195) are even worse than Harmison's (1-177). Anderson's international record is nothing compared to Harmison's, and what's more, as a swing bowler he's less suited to Australian conditions. His control has never yet been consistently test-level (though he's undoubtedly talented, and could simply do with more cricket). And there's a very good reason why Sajid and Plunkett aren't in the team. For all his promise, Sajid sprays it around too much. Of all our bowlers, he's the one who's disappeared to all parts in ODIs the worst. Plunkett has looked decent, but lacking in real penetration.

3) This alternative strategy, whereby we drop Harmison and rustle up some up state games for him to practice in while the rest of the team plays the Second Test, is just half-baked. This is really a better way to get his confidence up? Getting demoted, and pitched in with a makeshift team of squad members and Academy players (and Chris Read's really going to exude happy vibes), while his teammates play a real game? It's not as if the media would ignore the match he was playing in.

4) He'll still be our main strike bowler next year. Dropping Harmison now - or even worse, sending him home as Richard Williams suggests - would destroy his confidence for a whole season, maybe for good.

So: we've got to stick with him. He will get better. How much, we don't know. But the whole team is going to get better. It already is. The odds are overwhelmingly that we're going to get beat in this series, and probably by a big margin. That's no disgrace - Australia have selected better players than they did in 2005, while we've lost key players and form through injury. The important thing now is that the squad don't panic, and the fans don't turn on them.

posted by M. Reynard @ 6:24 pm