Harmison let off the hook by soft selectors

[King]

Imagine if the National Theatre engaged an actor to play one of the major roles in a Chekhov play, and he repaid them by forgetting his lines, not now and again but night after night, writes More... Harmison let off the hook by soft selectors By Michael Henderson Last Updated: 10:10am BST 14/06/2007 Imagine if the National Theatre engaged an actor to play one of the major roles in a Chekhov play, and he repaid them by forgetting his lines, not now and again but night after night. Fast track: Allan Donald aims to get Steve Harmison back in formImagine if, on grounds of mercy, they gave him another part, in an Ibsen drama, and he kept walking into the props. Even with the goodwill of his fellows, that man wouldn't have much of a future on the stage. Similarly, when music-lovers go to hear Alfred Brendel play the piano tonight at the Royal Festival Hall, nobody expects him to play the wrong notes, or slide off his stool during the performance. If he does then people will ask for their money back, and their request will not be denied. That, roughly, is the situation in which Steve Harmison finds himself when the fourth and final Test against the West Indies starts tomorrow at Chester-le-Street. The Durham fast bowler has been forgetting his lines, walking into the props, playing the wrong notes, and falling off his stool for at least a year now and keeps getting paid handsomely for it. Being a decent bunch, the cricket-watchers of England have indulged him by sitting on their hands, though there were a few hoots of derision at Lord's, and when that happens you know that something really is wrong. Some media observers have extended that tolerance, muttering that four wickets in the second innings at Old Trafford earlier this week hinted at a return to form. One commentator told television viewers that handling Harmison would 'test' Michael Vaughan. Another felt that Harmison's problems would 'challenge' Allan Donald, the new bowling coach. Yes, both men will be tested and challenged, as captains and coaches usually are by their players, but the real test, the authentic challenge, is the one that Harmison himself must address, and the signs are not good. The recruitment of Donald, a superb fast bowler in his prime for Warwickshire and South Africa, has raised hopes that Harmison will soon be firing batsmen out quick smart, as he has done occasionally in the past. We'll see. Donald's appointment is indeed good news but he cannot take wickets for his man. Coaching, as the late Tom Cartwright used to say, is essentially about preparing players to take responsibility for their own actions, and that is what Harmison has failed to do. No England cricketer in living memory has been indulged so much for so long, in the hope that he will rediscover the form that made him, briefly, the highest-ranked bowler in world cricket. That ranking was absurd, of course, as such rankings often are. Harmison has talent but he has never touched the heights that great fast bowlers do, series in, series out. He is no Fred Trueman or John Snow. Rather, he is a bowler who remains capable of violent bursts, now and again, but neither he nor anybody else knows when those eruptions will occur. How is it possible for a professional cricketer of 11 years standing, with 52 Tests behind him, to bowl as poorly as Harmison did at Old Trafford? Human fallibility and 'technical' problems only count for so much in his case because we have seen him perform poorly for England so many times. Anybody is entitled to have a bad game. Harmison has bad summers, bad winters, bad years. That is not fallibility. It indicates a lack of will. After England had won in Manchester, Vaughan praised Harmison's 'character'. In this instance the captain is mistaken. The chance for Harmison to reveal his character came last year when England toured Australia. Anybody who truly cared about his performance would have moved mountains to get fit for that tour, and Harmison had six months to prepare himself fully. Instead, he turned up sound in neither body nor mind. There was a very good case for dropping Harmison, to punish him for falling short of professional standards, and to warn others that such breaches were unacceptable. But the selectors are nothing if not tolerant, and he has been given another go. Goodness gracious, he is a lucky man. How much appetite does he have for the game? At 28 he has already retired from one-day international cricket, and it is worth noting that Glenn McGrath won three World Cup winners' medals after that age. Nor, as we have seen repeatedly, does he enjoy touring, so there is little point in selecting him for duty abroad. He is a home bird, and there is much to be said for living in Northumberland, with its marvellous coastline, famous castles and bracing country walks. He will feel comfortable playing for England on his home ground, and the spectators may give him a decent reception, though I wouldn't bank on it: tolerance has its limits, even for local lads. In the long run England should be preparing for life without Harmison, a bowler of some talent who never knew what it was for. Beer-fuelled fans ruining spectacle Spectators in Manchester saw one of the poorest Test matches staged in this country. Not even Shivnarine Chanderpaul's valiant second-innings century, and the tricky, occasionally inspired spinning of Monty Panesar will banish memories of wayward bowling and fielding that would have disgraced club players. It was an unhappy Test in another way. Good as it was to see the ground full last weekend, too many people had come to admire themselves. This is not a problem exclusive to Old Trafford. The narcissism encouraged by television, which likes to identify 'colourful characters', and people 'having fun', is evident everywhere. It just seems more apparent in Manchester, where the heavy-handed stewarding continues to offend regular patrons. What can be done about the increasingly unpleasant atmosphere inside Test grounds? Not much, I'm afraid. Where once spectators were sober observers (in both senses of the word), immersed in the game's history, we now have thousands of people for whom a Test match offers a splendid opportunity to get riotously drunk, and possibly the chance to disrobe and charge on to the field of play. When Michael Angelow became cricket's first streaker, at Lord's in 1975, the act was unprecedented and therefore quite funny. I was no more than 10 yards away when he broke from the Tavern Stand, to win a bet that had been several hours in the striking. Now that the shedding of clothes is compulsory for so many dullards the whole thing has become a bore, and cricket is diminished by these regular outbreaks of infantilism. As Chanderpaul completed a very good half-century last Friday thousands of revellers ignored his achievement, preferring to hurl their beer trays higher and higher. The only ground where these high jinks do not take place is Lord's, where MCC members are often mocked for being snobs. Anybody who was at Manchester last week would say that snobbery has much to commend it.

[King]

This article should make Donny happy :thumbs_up:

[Gambit]

Donald will probably have him bowling like Amby by the time we get there. :creep:

[Predator_05]

Yep. I have a bad feeling about Harmison. Remember the last time the Indian batsmen played him in England, he took a hat-trick. I wouldn't be surprised if they make a trundler like Sidebottom look world class. Remember Ronnie Irani and Alex Wharf ? Rubbish bowlers who took bundles of wickets against India.

[Ram]

I think our batting ( barring the openers maybe ) is good enough to handle him.. the press is just tryin to hype this guy back into form..

[novpj]

if anything its the Indian batting that is hyped. After the world cup debacle I cant believe some one is still under the illusion that Indian batting is good

[Donny]

This article should make Donny happy :thumbs_up:

Well, I did enjoy reading it but I don't really like to see any cricketer 1. Wasting his talent, 2. Embarrassing his captain, team mates and fans, 3. Being selected, series after series on hope, 4. Arrogantly boasting about his '200 Test wickets' while ignoring criticism, saying, "I have nothing to prove".

[chanakya]

^^^ Ganguly and Sehwag fit the bill no?