Harmison was in our best X1 at the end of August and the next Test match after that, he can’t get in the best 16. I don’t see how that can be the case, particularly after the way he came on and mopped up the Aussies at the Oval in the second innings to effectively seal the Ashes for us.
England are going to face another test of their character when they embark on their tour of South Africa this winter. It is not that long ago that everyone was enjoying the fantastic Ashes win, but the time for celebrations is over and they now face a tough, long tour against the best Test team in the world.
I like the format of the tour with two Twenty20 Internationals and a five-match one-day international series coming before the Test series. From a playing perspective, it’s a good idea to play the one-day series first. I’ve played on tours where it’s been the other way around and once the Test matches finish, there can be a definite feeling of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ and if you’re not in the ascendancy you start looking at the date you’re flying home.
Playing the one-day section first will allow players to get used to the opposition and conditions, although England will want to get a good start to the tour to take into the Test series. They go into the one-dayers with confidence high after reaching the Champions Trophy semi-finals, while they have beaten South Africa in their last five one-day internationals, although I don’t think that will count for much on this tour. The four we won at home a couple of years ago was definitely a case of South Africa setting their sights on winning the Test series and perhaps took their eye off the ball a little bit and it enabled us to get on top of them.
It will be a tough test for England, despite the improvement in their performances during the Champions Trophy, where they did better than a lot of people expected after their disappointing series at home against Australia. One of the big plus points of that trip for me was Eoin Morgan. His 67 against South Africa at Centurion was the first time I’d seen him play and he delivered a fantastic innings. He showed me that he definitely has the talent to be a key player in England’s one-day side for many years to come. He had plenty of shots, he looked like he had a good head on him, knew where to score and he hit with great power. For a small left-hander, he’s definitely pencilled himself in for the future – he was a breath of fresh air. I was also impressed with Joe Denly and those two, certainly batting wise, are definitely ones for the future.
My one big concern is where our next all-rounder is coming from. Luke Wright has had an extended run now and if he is going to be the all-rounder they are going to have to rely more on his bowling than they do now. It looked like he’d put a yard of pace on over the summer, which is encouraging, but I still think he can do the odd daft thing when he’s batting. He’s played a lot of cricket now and I still don’t think he’s worked out his game as a batsman yet to the level it needs to be at to play international cricket. If they keep persevering with him then hopefully, that penny will drop for him.
I know it's a difficult job being a selector, but I can’t fathom out why Steve Harmison has not been included in the squad for the Test series. I know he’s had his problems overseas before, but if you look at the inexperience which in that squad against South Africa, the No 1 rated Test team in the world, I’m not sure we’ve got the strength and depth of experience to really compete over a long Test match series. If you go back to the last Test match of the summer, neither of our two fastest bowlers are in this squad with Andrew Flintoff retiring and Steve Harmison being overlooked. Harmison was in our best X1 at the end of August and the next Test match after that, he can’t get in the best 16. I don’t see how that can be the case, particularly after the way he came on and mopped up the Aussies at the Oval in the second innings to effectively seal the Ashes for us.
I’m not saying we don’t have good bowlers in the squad, but I just think Harmison would have added an extra dimension. Graham Onions has burst onto the scene and I think is exciting, he’s aggressive and swings the ball away when it’s happening for him. He is also at the batsman all the time, so he’s a big plus, Stuart Broad is coming on all the time and Jimmy Anderson has been our best performer for some time. The only thing we haven’t got there is the enforcer, someone who bowls 90-odd mph and hurries the batsman up and unsettles them and then the lads at the other end work around him and reap the rewards off him. As long as cricket has been played, it’s always your fast bowler that will unsettle the best batsmen in the world and unfortunately England don’t have an out-and-out fast bowler going on that tour. We have skilled swing bowlers, but I would like to have seen that complimented with a fast bowler.
It all adds up to a very very tough trip for England. I think it’s going to be as hard as any tour can be. They are going to be ready, they are going to want to cement themselves as the best Test team in the world and they are going to come at England unbelievably hard because it’s how they play their cricket. Our batsmen are going to have to stand up to a mental and physical barrage because they have four quick bowlers and it will be interesting how they cope. It’s going to be a hell of a trip for them.