Chappell rates Harmison

Former Australian captain and now respected TV commentator and journalist Ian Chappell believes Steve Harmison is the key if England are to retain the Ashes.

“So much depends on how Steve Harmison bowls. It may be a reason why they gave Andrew Flintoff the captaincy – apparently he’s very matey with Harmison. They could have gone the safe route and made Strauss captain. But they won the Ashes by taking the aggressive route and picking someone like Kevin Pietersen. Logic says that to retain the Ashes, they’ve got to keep taking risks and they’ve done that by making Flintoff captain,” said Chappell.

As is his way Chappell was forthright in his opinions on the inconsistent Harmison: “Some of the stuff I saw from him against Pakistan (in the recent Test series) was absolute crap. But if he bowls as well as he can, England will be right in it.”

Ian Chappell used pace duo Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson to decimate England during the 1974-75 Ashes series, after being on the receiving end during the 1970-71 series from England speedster John Snow.