wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
I suppose the question over an injury replacement being dropped also applies to Harmison, who, IIRC, replaced the injured Jones against India in 2002 and didn't play at the start of the Ashes tour that winter. I didn't view that as a dropping either, FWIW.Richard said:True, that should be twice he (Hoggard) was dropped, not once (it was very complicated in 2000 - his debut came in the last Test before a ODI series, and after that ODI series there was little doubt over a) the return of the captain and b) the need for a spinner. What I'd also question is - can a player called-up because of injury be dropped?), during The Ashes 2002\03 and SL 2003\04.
Still, given his performances I'd have dropped him many more times, and I still maintain that Harmison isn't a Test-class bowler and will go eventually unless he makes improvements.
Harmy's in the balance, isn't he. I struggle to believe that he could have taken over 60 test wickets in 2004 with the sort of crap we've seen in SA and beyond but I thought he still bowled poorly at Durham, despite picking up his fivefor. At least he did in the bits I saw. Why someone who bowls for a living can't make the batsmen play more than 2 or 3 times an over is beyond me. I do find him interesting though. We don't get any of the self-justification and removal from reality that we used to get from Caddick after a bad day - Harmison is usually pretty honest about his performances. He just doesn't seem to sort it out! And I don't know if you saw the interviews after the Lord's test, but I thought he looked terrified. Maybe it is still about nerves.