Harmison the World Top rated Bowler

[Swervy]

Taken from Cricinfo:

Steve Harmison is the best bowler in the world, according to the PwC ratings.


Harmison, who bounced back from a quiet series to take nine wickets at The Oval, including 6 for 46 in the first-innings debacle, has leapfrogged Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and South Africa's Shaun Pollock to become the first England bowler to top the rankings for more than two decades.


It is a reflection of England's current dominance that all four of their leading bowlers are rated among the world's top 20, with both Ashley Giles and Andrew Flintoff making spectacular improvements this year. Flintoff is also rated among the top three allrounders in the world.


West Indies' problems are reflected by the sorry state of their individual ratings. Apart from Lara (third in the batting) and Chanderpaul (20th), not one player features at the top of the lists.

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

[luckyeddie]

It's been quite a year for Steve Harmison, and quite a year for England.

Top stuff - and the next 12 months promise to be interesting in the extreme.

[Swervy]

Originally Posted by luckyeddie

It's been quite a year for Steve Harmison, and quite a year for England.

Top stuff - and the next 12 months promise to be interesting in the extreme.

I hope England hammer SA..and Australia hammer India, because then the next Ashes series is set up to be a true clash of the titans...for the first time in how ever long.

Certainly better than in the mid 80's when all the Ashes was was a competition for who could avoid be the worlds worst team

[masterblaster]

Yeah good on Harmison.

Not meaning to be offensive to all you Harmison fans, but I have a feeling that
he will be cut down to size by the might of Hayden, Ponting and Gilchrist.

Mark my words....

[Sehwag309]

..and if I might add...he will be there for quite some time

1 Steve Harmison ENG

2 Muttiah Muralitharan SL

3 Shaun Pollock SA

4 Shoaib Akhtar PAK

5 Glenn McGrath AUS

6 Shane Warne AUS

7 Anil Kumble IND

8 Jason Gillespie AUS

9 Chaminda Vaas SL

10 Makhaya Ntini

[Sehwag309]

Originally Posted by masterblaster

Yeah good on Harmison.

Not meaning to be offensive to all you Harmison fans, but I have a feeling that
he will be cut down to size by the might of Hayden, Ponting and Gilchrist.

Mark my words....

U never know....looking forward for the Ashes..yeah talk abt that rivalry

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by masterblaster

Yeah good on Harmison.

Not meaning to be offensive to all you Harmison fans, but I have a feeling that
he will be cut down to size by the might of Hayden, Ponting and Gilchrist.

Mark my words....

No offence taken.

I really think that Harmison's next big test is in South Africa, but cricket is a team game, and never has that been better demonstrated than by the performances shown by England in the three series this year.

Every time they were faltering in a game, SOMEONE stepped up. You would be hard-pressed to find a single member of the side who did not make at least one highly significant contribution towards the winning of a game (chokes back the words 'match-winning') when things start to look wobbly.

Now where's that speech suitable for such occasions?

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the walls up with our English dead!
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood."

Ah, there it is.

[Top_Cat]

Harmison is bowling very well right now and as everyone who doubted me at the time would know, I've always said he had plenty of potential.

However, I have to agree with masterblaster on this one; he bowls well in spells but against the Aussies, the bowlers who do well have bowled sustained quality spells, much like the Aussie bowlers. Against the WI and NZ, he's bowled several good deliveries in a row and then they've crumbled but the Aussies like Hayden/Langer/Ponting (ESPECIALLY him)/Martyn are experts at weathering a good spell and sweating on the bad ball to release the pressure, especially again pace bowling (not so much patience against spinners I've noticed).

There's nothing more deflating than, as a bowler, you can see you're bowling well and the one damn slightly loose ball you bowl, gets smacked to the mid-wicket fence. That's what Harmison has to get through and the bowlers who've bowled well against the Aussies have all had to go through it. Will he? I have my doubts. I sure hope so because he has such a great attitude towards bowling these days and he'll have to step up a notch to get through stuff like that.

The two things he'll most have to get through are these I reckon;

- The fact that if he bowls well in a Test, the Aussies will have plans to beat him in the next Test and will almost totally change their game plan. He'll have to adapt quickly.

- Harmi has a tendency towards having 'off-days'. He better not have one in the first Test or he'll lose the mental battle QUICKLY and will be playing catch-up for the rest of the series, no matter how well he bowls.

If he gets through those, he'll push the Aussies quite a bit. Maybe even be the difference between the two sides. If he and Freddie (with the ball) have a good series, England will be in with a great chance.

[luckyeddie]

That's always the case, Corey, and just how it should be. In order to compete with the Aussies, you have to do just that - compete. That means coming back over and over and over again - if they smack you out of the attack, you come back the next time and try even harder - and so do your mates.

Harmison, in his defence, had a couple of mediocre tests against the Windies on pudding pitches (I certainly didn't think he bowled badly, just without any weapons), and last year that might well have been that, but there's something about the guy now I've not seen in ANY English fast bowler since Willis. He just keeps coming back at you. I guess when you've been written off as utter rubbish by so many people, there's two choices...

<quack> Oh, God. He's going to do the whole Shawshank Redemption bit now

... you either walk away or you stand toe-to-toe and slug it out.

Maybe Australia will sort Harmison out, but my expectation is that even if they do, there'll be another 10 ready and all to willing to (metaphorically) rip your heads off and spit down your necks.

<quack> Forgive him. The landlord at the Cross Keys, Castle Donington was wearing a Fosters Lager shirt this lunchtime.

[Top_Cat]

That's always the case, Corey, and just how it should be. In order to compete with the Aussies, you have to do just that - compete. That means coming back over and over and over again - if they smack you out of the attack, you come back the next time and try even harder - and so do your mates.

At that level, it would be tough to do that. Very few bowlers have been able to do it against the Aussies regularly. Shane Bond has done it in a few ODI's, and Caddick in a couple of Tests but it's rare that a pace bowler has done it to the current side on a regular basis.

Harmison, in his defence, had a couple of mediocre tests against the Windies on pudding pitches (I certainly didn't think he bowled badly, just without any weapons), and last year that might well have been that, but there's something about the guy now I've not seen in ANY English fast bowler since Willis. He just keeps coming back at you.

I too saw that right from the start (as anyone who cares to remember me saying will recall). He has bottle in spades. That's one of the things I like about him. Plus, plenty of guns in the arsenal. I mean it's one thing being gutsy but he's also really talented.

Maybe Australia will sort Harmison out, but my expectation is that even if they do, there'll be another 10 ready and all to willing to (metaphorically) rip your heads off and spit down your necks.

This is where further doubts sink in; I have my doubts about Freddie, Hoggard and Jones in spoiling for the fight. Particularly Hoggard. Freddie is playing very well right now but can he come back when the times aren't so good? Remains to be seen in my view.

The batsmen look good too but I would say Strauss will be heavily peppered by Gillespie/McGrath outside off-stump as will Tresco, Vaughan has a tendency to not cover off-stump when playing forward so that's where the Aussies will look to bowl to him (although they'll be risking all of the balls he DOES nail down the ground) and I would say that Freddie will be tested with the short ones and balls outside off-stump.

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

At that level, it would be tough to do that. Very few bowlers have been able to do it against the Aussies regularly. Shane Bond has done it in a few ODI's, and Caddick in a couple of Tests but it's rare that a pace bowler has done it to the current side on a regular basis.



I too saw that right from the start (as anyone who cares to remember me saying will recall). He has bottle in spades. That's one of the things I like about him. Plus, plenty of guns in the arsenal. I mean it's one thing being gutsy but he's also really talented.



This is where further doubts sink in; I have my doubts about Freddie, Hoggard and Jones in spoiling for the fight. Particularly Hoggard. Freddie is playing very well right now but can he come back when the times aren't so good? Remains to be seen in my view.

The batsmen look good too but I would say Strauss will be heavily peppered by Gillespie/McGrath outside off-stump as will Tresco, Vaughan has a tendency to not cover off-stump when playing forward so that's where the Aussies will look to bowl to him (although they'll be risking all of the balls he DOES nail down the ground) and I would say that Freddie will be tested with the short ones and balls outside off-stump.

Yeah, Hoggard has never been a real threat in the Ashes, and I can't see the fact that he's playing with a couple of guys who can bowl changing that. If anything, if Harmison and Flintoff are on fire I'd imagine Hoggard would be seen as much welcome relief. THe problem I see for England might be the fact that if Freddy scores some runs and bats through to the end of the innings this has the potential to take the edge off his bowling. For mine he's one of the best two bowlers they have so.......the rest are fairly unthreatening given that it takes the right conditions for them to perform. Jones may be the exception to the rule if he can stay fit for a while.

[biased indian]

can we wait till he bowl in subcontinent or aganist SA away or aganist aussies any where

[PY]

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

This is where further doubts sink in; I have my doubts about Freddie, Hoggard and Jones in spoiling for the fight. Particularly Hoggard. Freddie is playing very well right now but can he come back when the times aren't so good? Remains to be seen in my view

I think the fact that it is in England will have a fair amount to do with this one. The kind of reception Freddie gets when he does anything could just lift him if he is getting whacked about. Hoggard has heart and will always keep coming in and bowling his line and length. You may be right about Jones and Anderson but I think Harmison and Hoggard will be fine with Freddie lifted by the occasion. I hope.

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

I would say that Freddie will be tested with the short ones and balls outside off-stump.

Not too sure about the balls outside off-stump but if they start whacking them in short, it's going to get quite interesting because Freddie has deposited an awful lot this summer over the square leg boundary from short balls. However, something which I saw at The Oval this last Test was different. He was crunching the ball along the ground a lot and he also used the leg glance to good effect as well.

Now if he can mix it up like that then I see not too great a threat from the short ball however if he tries to smash it out of the ground everytime then we are going to see some explosive results for either team.

Either way it's going to be titanic battle and whatever the result (even an Aussie win) I'm going to enjoy it.

[superkingdave]

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

and I would say that Freddie will be tested with the short ones and balls outside off-stump.

I would be pretty happy if thats how they target Freddie, given the frequency (or rather infrequency) with which he's been out in those ways in the past year. Indeed IIRC you have to back to SA last year to find the last time he was out hooking and the last time he was out caught by keeper or Slips of the pacemen(when not slogging).

Flintoff is a big LBW candidate to the ball nipping back from outside off, and is also vulnerable to the slower ball.

Key, Tresco and Strauss are all vulnerable outside off, Vaughan also to a lesser degree, thats why i would deffo have Butcher instead of Key - well i might keep Key as opener and drop(rest) Tresco if he doesnt do well early on(gillespie is the one who will trouble Tresco)

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

I would be pretty happy if thats how they target Freddie, given the frequency (or rather infrequency) with which he's been out in those ways in the past year. Indeed IIRC you have to back to SA last year to find the last time he was out hooking and the last time he was out caught by keeper or Slips of the pacemen(when not slogging).

Flintoff is a big LBW candidate to the ball nipping back from outside off, and is also vulnerable to the slower ball.

Key, Tresco and Strauss are all vulnerable outside off, Vaughan also to a lesser degree, thats why i would deffo have Butcher instead of Key - well i might keep Key as opener and drop(rest) Tresco if he doesnt do well early on(gillespie is the one who will trouble Tresco)

I think Trescothick woul dhave to be the next to go if they find another decent bat. His footwork is bad, and Strauss actually looks like a better option at opener IMO, much better technically.