The lack of impact that Steve Harmison has made this series has been a major factor in the team’s misfiring

Andrew Miller08-Jan-2005

Steve Harmison looks for inspiration from above© Getty Images
It’s been a disappointing start to the New Year for England. Already they have lost more matches – one – than they conceded in all of 2004, and though no-one would wish to pin the blame on him directly, the lack of impact that Steve Harmison has made this series has been a major factor in the team’s misfiring. Harmison was the world No. 1 bowler at the start of December, but he has managed just seven wickets in three Tests, at the unthreatening average of 61.71.”It’s disappointing, but that’s just the way it is,” said a phlegmatic Harmison. “I was always going to have a spell when I didn’t get any wickets. This is that spell. I’ve got what I deserved, I could possibly have had a couple of extra wickets in this Test [at Newlands], but it’s not through a lack of effort or trying. These things happen.”It’s been a gruelling itinerary for the bowlers on both teams, with three five-day Tests crammed into three weeks, and Harmison did not pretend that he wasn’t feeling the strain. “I’d be kidding if I said I was fresh ready to run a marathon,” he said. “It’s taken its toll on everybody. I was pretty sore this morning, but that’s not an excuse, it’s been the same for both sides.”I’m tired now, but I’ll recharge my batteries this week and come back stronger,” he insisted. “It’s just general fatigue at the moment – 15 days’ of cricket in 21 days is tough.” A renowned family man, Harmison was looking forward to some quality time with his wife and kids, before they fly back to England at the end of the week. “It’s important to get away from cricket,” he said. “The family have been out for 15-16 days, and 10 of those I’ve been playing cricket. To spend some time with them would be nice.”England and South Africa resume their hostilities in Johannesburg on January 13, on a Wanderers pitch that is expected to have more pace and bounce than any so far encountered on the tour, and for Harmison, that represents an opportunity to make a late impact. “I haven’t done anything in this series,” he lamented. “But we haven’t played well as a team either. No-one’s fulfilled their potential from the last 12 months, except perhaps [Andrew] Strauss.”Harmison made a similarly slow start at Lord’s and Edgbaston last summer, during England’s home series against West Indies, but said that he was more frustrated by his current predicament. “Durban and Cape Town were two places I should have taken wickets at,” he admitted. “But it’s not going to get me down. The ball’s coming out okay pace-wise, but I’m bowling the odd four-ball, which is releasing pressure. I’m disappointed that we’re 1-1 after three Tests and that I’ve not really been a part of that, but hopefully I’ll do something in the next two.”Part of the problem – a considerably large part, in fact – has been the exceptional form of Jacques Kallis, who has amassed 448 runs at 74.67 this series, and has been an insurmountable object for England’s bowlers. “Nobody in the last 12 months has left [deliveries from] us as well as Kallis has,” he admitted. “That first innings in Durban was the best anyone has played against us, and we will have to see what we can put in place to get him out early, because if he bats for 15 overs, he gets in and that’s it.”Harmison has had his moments of success against Kallis, including a blistering over on the second morning at Cape Town that was perhaps the most hostile introduction to a day’s play since Geoff Boycott faced up to Michael Holding at Bridgetown in 1980-81. Unfortunately for Harmison, however, Kallis was still standing at the end of it.”It’s wickets that I’m judged by,” he admitted, and suddenly it seems a long, long time ago that Harmison was plucking out Kallis’s off stump with the first ball he bowled to him in the series, a low full-toss at Port Elizabeth. “Ah yes, that full bunger. I’ve tried a couple of times, but I didn’t get it in the right place. The sightscreens haven’t been low enough.”