Harvey hands stiff task to Bulls

Victorian all-rounder Ian Harvey has played the parts of rampaging middle order batsman, handy change bowler and key fieldsman to perfection to consign Queensland to difficulty by the halfway mark of the teams' Pura Cup match in Melbourne today. By stumps on day two, the Bulls have slumped to a mark of 5/135 in response to the Bushrangers' 9/384 declared - a tribute, in no small measure, to a belligerent Harvey innings, a crucial late wicket, and an excellent slips catch.

Victoria's ongoing injury crisis has seen to it that its side is still missing one of its key slips fieldsmen (Matthew Elliott), one of its most dependable middle order batsmen (Laurie Harper), and two of its main strike bowlers (Damien Fleming and Shane Warne). In the sort of all-hands-on-deck spirit that such emergencies necessitate, Harvey seemed to sense that his own pair might be sufficient to fill the breach.

Only the mistimed pull that led to his dismissal in the nineties and one dropped catch served to take any gloss off his day today. And, in any case, those distractions scarcely seemed to make much difference to the extent to which his thumbprint loomed large over the final two sessions in particular.

In truth, he should have been dismissed with his score at thirty. Joe Dawes stood under a miscued drive which ballooned high in the air toward him at mid on but barely laid a fingernail on the ball. It was a miss which not only failed to provide medium pacer Adam Dale (3/71 from a marathon forty-six overs) with appropriate reward for a wonderful morning spell but which also haunted Queensland for the remainder of the day.

The dropped chance set the stage for a belligerent knock from Harvey (93) that carried the Victorians to the sort of total to which they should never have been allowed to ascend. With characteristic belligerence, the all-rounder proceeded to club sixty-two runs from his next forty-six deliveries. No part of the ground, nor any member of the bowling attack (not even the hitherto unhittable Dale), was spared his punishment.

After Dale's concession of just two scoring strokes during another dawdling morning session had threatened to place a tight cap on the Bushrangers' progress, Harvey's innings - replete as it was with ten fours and three sixes - swiftly altered the complexion of proceedings. He had been forced to rein himself in slightly after he had watched Brad Hodge (111) and Darren Berry (6) join Michael Klinger (3) in the pavilion during the pre-lunch period but wasted little time thereafter. His partnerships of fifty-one with Paul Reiffel (13) and forty-four with an equally aggressively-inclined Colin Miller (26 from twenty-six deliveries) proved crucial by the end of the day.

Even the absence of Fleming - as a legacy of neck soreness - failed to remove much of the polish from the Bushrangers' performance through the afternoon. It was an impression confirmed as in-form left armer Mathew Inness (1/36) lured Jimmy Maher (3) into unwisely padding up at a delivery cutting back in off the seam.

Harvey's blemish in the slips granted Martin Love (30) an early life and allowed the elegant right hander to add fifty-four with newcomer Jerry Cassell (28) for the second wicket. But it wasn't long before the Australian one-day representative was back in the action again. Following the twin removals of Love and Cassell to lbw decisions in the midst of a feisty spell of medium pace from Miller (2/31), he lured Stuart Law (28) into outside edging a lazy cover drive and, at shoulder height, intercepted an edge from a fierce Andrew Symonds (18) drive at Reiffel (1/38).

Another imploring Harvey (1/26) lbw appeal against Wade Seccombe (6*) before the wicketkeeper-batsman had scored was denied in the shadow of stumps. But, by then, the die had been cast; on a pitch showing far more variability in bounce than yesterday, his impact had been decisive. Still as many as ninety-nine runs shy of the follow-on mark as its team is, Queensland's lower order now needs to play with fierce determination tomorrow. There certainly needs to be far more from them in the way of resistance to match that provided by Dale (whose thirteen over spell this morning remarkably cost just seven runs) and promising young off spinning debutant Scott O'Leary (4/105).