You know, I cannot locate ANYTHING where Hussain says that Harmison 'has the potential to be John Snow'. I can find many articles suggesting that the only chance England ever have in Australia is with pace - mention of Snow comes in under the Illingworth tours, as does Larwood under Jardine (god, how I love typing those names out).
Anyway, I found these in the lead-up (all on Cricinfo - no links, but the dates are accurate)
29 Sept 2002
An article appears in The Age (An Aussie rag) citing England's lack of pace as the prime reason for failure in Australia over the years. He adds that '(Harmison and Jones) sound as though they are just what Graveney is looking for'.
9 Oct 2002 -
Hussain says 'If key areas and key battles are won, there is cause for optimism'
16 Oct 2002 -
Flintoff injury adds to England's woes
17 Oct 2002 -
England travel hopefully
Ralph Dellor writes 'It is difficult to find many flaws in the Australian game from which England can hope to profit, however, the team were making all the right noises, trying to sound confident and optimistic without making outrageous claims'
18 Oct 2002 -
Healy dismisses England's hopes
'I cannot see it being any better than the last series'
Healy goes on to discuss Australia's one weakness (as he sees it) - first innings vulnerability
Nasser Hussain agreed about the difficulty of the task in hand, saying 'England's bowling will be crucial. We've got to try to rough a few people up and hopefully, in Simon Jones and Steve Harmison, we have that in our armoury'
This then gets blown out of all proportion in the Sun, Mirror et al to 'We aim to bounce the Aussies out'. I heard the press conference - and Hussain NEVER said anything of the sort.
This then gets counter-reported in the Aussie tabloids (both sides are idiots - the only decent cricket reporting on the subject is in the broadsheets and on two internet websites - Cricinfo and Cricket Web)
21 October 2002
One of the best articles I have ever read by a rival - the one on Cricinfo where they state that certain areas of the tabloid press are talking rubbish, and that only the most foolish patriot would be disappointed with a 3-1 defeat
"Then there's the pacemen, the bullish and slightly blithe assertion that England will fight fire with fire. This centres on an overweight Yorkshireman who hasn't played a Test for over a year, an injury-prone Lancastrian with a Test strike-rate nearing 100, and two wet-behind-the-ears quick bowlers with distinctly modest first-class records"
and so it goes on.
