Steve Harmison

[superkingdave]

Bit worried if we lose Freddie for Headingly...batting would be shaky if he's replaced by Harmison. Still more confident that Freddie will back it up at the moment, hasn't had a massive match so far, guess it depends on the second innings/weather but it's not beyond possibility he will be fit.

Hopefully by the Oval Onions has cemented his position enough that Harmison would only come in for Broad

 

[Richard]

Will still be pretty surprised if Broad is dropped this series - the usual strategy of giving him an undeserved shot at the tailenders may have failed in the Edgbaston first-innings, but it's worked far, far more often than not through his career, and for the most part it's been all anyone needs.

 

[Uppercut]

Harmison in for Broad weakens the batting, and with two tests to go and a 1-0 lead England won't be looking to do that. If Flintoff goes down, they'll probably bring in another batsman from somewhere like they did in 2005.

Meanwhile, Onions has done what he did for Durham all year and demonstrated how much better he is than his county team-mate these days. Harmison's prospects for playing another test at all look bleak- unless Onions himself breaks down.

 

[Richard]

Still a little dubious that Onions is better than his county team-mate (Davies) TBH, but he's certainly bowling damn well this season, think we can say that for sure now.

 

[Uppercut]

Still a little dubious that Onions is better than his county team-mate (Davies) TBH, but he's certainly bowling damn well this season, think we can say that for sure now.

When you take fitness into account- and when picking a team for test cricket, you absolutely have to- Onions>>>Davies.

 

[Richard]

Oh, absolutely, Davies' Bruce Reid esque fitness record counts heaps against him, and throughout his career no-one has ever seriously considered him for Test cricket mainly because of that. But right now, Davies still has a far better career to date than Onions; it's up to Onions to maintain the sort of form he's shown this season to try and change that.

 

[Manee]

Davies has had a poor year this year too, tbf.

 

[FBU]

ASHES 2009: Steve Harmison says 'let me at the Aussies'! Bowler admits he's desperate for one last crack at the Ashes | Mail Online

Has plans to go to South Africa. I would think he would want to play in every match but Strauss and Flower are favourites of horses for courses and that would not suit Harmison who needs to be bowling in every Test.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Harmison in for Broad weakens the batting, and with two tests to go and a 1-0 lead England won't be looking to do that. If Flintoff goes down, they'll probably bring in another batsman from somewhere like they did in 2005.

Meanwhile, Onions has done what he did for Durham all year and demonstrated how much better he is than his county team-mate these days. Harmison's prospects for playing another test at all look bleak- unless Onions himself breaks down.

If you go by the handful of games this season then yes Onions has done very well. Last season Harmison, Thorp and Davies all did much better than Onions. It's pointless jumping to such conclusions.

 

[Uppercut]

If you go by the handful of games this season then yes Onions has done very well. Last season Harmison, Thorp and Davies all did much better than Onions. It's pointless jumping to such conclusions.

I was only really referring to Harmison, and their performances for England are absolutely incomparable too. Davies is the Durham player I'd back over Onions if it weren't for his fitness issues (which are looking pretty bleak for life, unfortunately).

His wicket-taking form for Durham aside, the area where Onions really has the wood over Harmison is in his ability to bowl long spells. Harmison's speed often drops after his first spell, as it did in the Lions game even when he was bowling rather well. I suspect that with memories of great Harmison spells several years ago a lot of people (especially Aussies) weren't ready to accept the idea that Onions might just be the bowler you'd prefer in the side at the moment.

Regardless of which bowler you prefer, it's hard to argue that on any of the pitches used so far Harmison would have been effective, and Headingley's unlikely to suit him either. At the Oval, maybe.

 

[Richard]

Davies has had a poor year this year too, tbf.

Didn't play until this month or so and has done OK-ish since getting on the park. He's had his usual struggle with fitness, but aside from that has done moreorless what you'd expect.

 

[sledger]

Wrong link?

 

[Prince EWS]

Wrong link?

Nah, spam.

 

[tooextracool]

ASHES 2009: Steve Harmison says 'let me at the Aussies'! Bowler admits he's desperate for one last crack at the Ashes | Mail Online

Has plans to go to South Africa. I would think he would want to play in every match but Strauss and Flower are favourites of horses for courses and that would not suit Harmison who needs to be bowling in every Test.

If Harmison retired after this summer, he would be downright stupid because assuming he doesn't completely lose his head, he will be in the starting XI for the first test in SA with Flintoff bowing out at the end of the summer.

I'm not a big fan of the whole, 'I'm exhausted from all the traveling' BS either. One would think with his record and severe under performance this decade that he would want to rectify that before the end of his career. He's still got a lot to prove in his test career, and I hope that he will continue to bowl his heart out to stake a place in the England side.

 

[Uppercut]

My pre-Ashes miscallenous prediction:

England to complete their "abusive lover" cycle with Steve Harmison by welcoming him back into the side, only to unceremoniously drop him again when they realise he's no good any more. Onlookers will say for the millionth time that it's probably the last we'll see of him, but it won't be.

Could set your clock by it.

 

[Johnners]

Looked buggered 3 overs into his spell on the first afternoon imo, so unfit.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah, that's what I was so surprised about. Maybe he can get away with it at County cricket, but he doesn't maintain the intensity required at Test level.

 

[sledger]

I'd be very interested to actually see him bowling in a county match, I just can't imagine that he is this bad all the time, either that or he is doing a masterful job at duping the inept selection panel.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah, that's what I was so surprised about. Maybe he can get away with it at County cricket, but he doesn't maintain the intensity required at Test level.

Why so surprised? It's exactly what happened in the tour games tbf. In the West Indies he was good for one spell then ****ed for the series.

 

[pasag]

Might be my TV, but seems to have put on a lot of weight since I saw him last (vs SA last year maybe?)