Ryan Harris the unsung hero
An interesting subplot at Chester-le-Street on Sunday, as England looked to build their lead, was Ryan Harris running in and giving it everything, knowing his history of injuries due to over-exertion
12-Aug-2013
An interesting subplot at Chester-le-Street on Sunday, as England looked to build their lead, was Ryan Harris running in and giving it everything, knowing his history of injuries due to over-exertion. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Malcolm Knox describes Harris' unrelenting spell and the value Harris adds to the Australian team.
There is no grumbling about team factions from Harris. You would have to travel the world to find a fellow cricketer who will not give him a glowing character reference. He has a British passport, and might have been playing for the other side. Heaven help us. He came to Test cricket late in life, because his skills took time to develop, his body was unreliable, and selectors were not quick to recognise a bowler who wasn't as tall, lithe or fast as fashion dictated. This Ashes cause may be lost, but the series scoreline ought to record such heroes, whether they be unsung or, as Harris deserves, sung.
In the Guardian, Vic Marks writes that it's the 30-something pros, like Harris and Chris Rogers, and not the boys who will determine the outcome of this game. Harris' ball to bowl Joe Root was the play of the day.
This was the ball that pacemen dare not dream about. It would surely have dismissed most right-handed batsmen in the world. Root has been around long enough to know there was no point in looking back upon hearing the rattle. Harris has been around much longer and he knew that this was not only an express delivery but a very special one. He beamed again like a teenager, eyebrows mischievously raised at such a ball, accepting the congratulations of his team-mates.
In the same paper, Andy Bull writes on the Pietersen-Bell combination, that has been prolific for England, having scored 2,861 runs together at an average of 57.
Bell and Pietersen, little and large, make a difficult pair to bowl to. As Bell has said, they both play different shots to the same kinds of delivery. Pietersen looks to turn straight deliveries to the leg-side, which is where he scored 32 of the 44 he made. Bell prefers to send them to the off. "He cuts, I pull. He flicks it, I drive it." Where Pietersen is masterful at the crease, Bell is masterly. Pietersen's strokes make the old pros in the press box splutter. Bell's shots - the cover drives, late cuts, and clipped punches played off the back-foot - make them sigh. The curious thing of it is that for a long time Bell and Pietersen hardly seemed to gel at all.