Harmy axed but Strauss storms to a half century

Floored: England fast bowler Steve Harmison recovered from a back injury but failed to make the Fourth Test line-up
David Lloyd13 April 2012

Steve Harmison's stuttering Test career is back at the crossroads after England refused to gamble on their fastest but most unreliable fast bowler in Barbados.

With Andrew Flintoff missing the Fourth Test against West Indies because of a hip injury and No 1 wicketkeeper Matt Prior currently at home on paternity leave, the visitors were forced into two changes — bringing in Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara and Warwickshire gloveman Tim Ambrose.

But they chose to make another switch as well, axing Harmison and recalling the slower but steadier Ryan Sidebottom.

England, one down with two Tests to play, still believe they can win the series. And they made a terrific start at Kensington Oval this afternoon — captain Andrew Strauss winning the toss and then racing to a 71-ball half-century.

Strauss was then badly dropped on 58 by his opposite number, Chris Gayle, at slip off Fidel Edwards, and the skipper and his opening partner, Alastair Cook, capitalised to reach the 100 mark just before lunch with their wickets intact.

But leaving out Harmison, on what is generally the bounciest pitch in the Caribbean, and for a must-win match, shows just how little faith England now have in a man who should be their spearhead.

Though he has been dropped three times in six Tests this winter, today's decision must have really shaken him.

"If you don't pick Harmison on this pitch you might as well tell him to pack his bags and go home," said former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding.

The 30-year-old Durham paceman was dropped in New Zealand last winter and again in India just before Christmas, having fought his way back into the side at the end of last summer.

As for this series, Harmison played without much success in the First Test defeat in Jamaica and was then omitted for the hastily abandoned second game in Antigua. A switch of venue earned him a recall but he captured only two wickets at the Recreation Ground as England fell short of victory.

With Flintoff injured, England are down to just four front-line bowlers and the fact Harmison complained of a stiff back last weekend may have played a part in the thinking. But if any paceman ought to be able to extract awkward lift from a good batting pitch when a team desperately needs 20 wickets it is him.

Whatever happens over the next few days, though, England know they will have huge support in Barbados with thousands of Brits on the island. And Stuart Broad is confident the travelling fans will go home happy.

"We definitely think we can still win the series," insisted the 22-year-old paceman. "The positive feeling in the camp is very strong. We were one down in New Zealand a year ago with two to play and won 2-1, so it's something we have done before.

"Yes, there was the initial feeling of disappointment in Antigua when we weren't able to get that last wicket to win but we can take a hell of a lot of positives out of the match because we bossed the game for five days.

"There were a few fatigued bodies and minds afterwards but getting up for Barbados has been no problem at all because we played such good cricket last week. We're ready to hit them hard."

Broad began this tour with a distinctly modest Test record of 26 wickets at 45 runs apiece. But he was plainly a lot better than those figures and now his rewards are starting to come. There was a first five-wicket haul in Jamaica, then another four victims in Antigua.

"I can tell you a bit about fast bowlers and this young man has what it takes to get his team fired up," said former West Indies captain Viv Richards last week after Broad had grabbed the new ball — with both Flintoff and Harmison under the weather — and removed key batsmen Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in quick succession.

Getting rid of Sarwan and Chanderpaul opened the door for England and, although tailenders Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards managed to close it again, Broad's burst was a big step in the right direction for a young cricketer of huge promise.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in