Harmison on verge of a fast answer

Anybody harbouring the fond wish that Stephen Harmison might help to separate the Australians from their creases and the Ashes this winter could probably do with a testimonial to support their cause. So, here goes.

"Luckily, I was standing a the non-striker's end when this unlikely lad ambled in, jumped high at the crease and from over seven feet in the air, delivered a bouncer which thudded into the gloves of his wicketkeeper.

"Boony's grin glistened as my eyes widened at the prospect of battling this youngster, whose baby face had quickly turned into that of a fierce-eyed monster. This boy was quick, and I mean really quick."

There is more. "He is not exactly the sort of bowler you particularly like to face to feed your family... He is different. He gets you off the front foot and reminds you with every ball that a moment's lack of concentration on your part is potentially a broken finger or rib or, even worse, a broken wicket."

And finally: "If he is managed well by David Boon, this grinning assassin has an awesome career ahead. He is a name for the future. I can testify to his pace and potential. Witness my bruised fingers typing these lines."

Only your mum might be expected to offer something more advantageous for your CV. But they are the words of Justin Langer, the prolific Australian opening batsman whom Harmison will once more be attempting to give the hurry-up in a week or two.

Of course, Langer, who enjoys the heat of the battle, could be employing the old Aussie tactic of fooling the England selectors. If so, he was planning well ahead. He wrote those words four years ago in his diary of his summer with Middlesex.

Harmison was 19, in his first year with Durham. Boon was the Durham captain. He is now an Australian selector. What might he have unleashed on his compatriots? "I remember it," said the fast bowler last week as he embarked on the biggest journey of his life. "We had a bit of a set-to as well, a bit of nose to nose. But that was the spirit of the game. He came into the dressing room and had a drink at the end of the day's play. I sat next to him and told him I'd enjoyed it."

For the sake of England and their dreams, Harmison must hope that Langer's assessment was accurate and that the future is now. It is to be assumed that they have not taken along either Harmison or Simon Jones for the ride. There is a genuine belief, based on precedent, that fast bowling works in Australia.

The trouble is that despite five years as a professional fast bowler, nobody is yet aware how effective Harmison might be. He has had a couple of successful summers when he took 51 and 64 wickets, but they were in 1998 and 1999. His pace is there for all to see but England are basing their judgement on potential, not achievement. And maybe they read Langer's book.

"I should be taking more wickets," he said before flying to Australia last week. "I think a lot of it is that in the early weeks of the season the pitches don't suit me, but you've got to work with what you play on. And we've struggled up at Durham with injuries. In my two good seasons I had help. This year there wasn't the firepower to help and it had a knock-on effect on me."

Harmison is a quietly spoken, lanky giant with a gentle North-eastern brogue. He neither talks himself up nor down. He knows he has pace, but is aware that it is hopeless as a solitary weapon. The comparison with the exemplary Glenn McGrath – a little in their actions and a lot in their builds – is easy to make. It becomes harder after the ball lands.

"Believe me, I've been working on it. It's getting there. It's not going to be in the McGrath mould in three weeks but if he's putting it exactly there five balls out of six and I'm doing it three then we'll see. There are pros and cons to losing a pace. Lose a yard and you'll be easier to play even if you're on line and length. Being a bit quicker creates uncertainty."

Since he is so quick it was essential to ask him if he fancied putting the frighteners on the Aussies. Go on, Steve. He was not falling for that one. "Bowling fast excites me and if it means frightening a few Aussies so be it," he said. "It would be good from a spectator point of view, but I can't see it. Don't frighten batsmen, get them out."

The steep bounce which he can obtain from his pace is the essential component. This was much clearer on his Test debut at Trent Bridge last summer. Self-confessed nerves gripped him in the first innings ("I didn't concede a run for four overs but that's because they couldn't reach it") but he responded admirably and finished with five wickets in the match. England responded by dropping him.

This boy from Ashington, the former pit village in Northumberland, has excited some attention previously because of an apparent dislike of being away from home, which is something of a shortcoming for a professional cricketer. He married young, is a devoted spouse and his wife is expecting their second baby in December. But he fielded the doubt well.

"I've answered this before. It keeps coming back. I don't think anybody with a young family is comfortable about being away from home for any length of time. I'm not going to disguise the fact that when I left my wife and our three- year-old daughter there were a few tears but it's the price you have to pay. I'm not a fan of being away from home but who is. It's how you deal with it that counts."

What will also count is how the Australians deal with Harmison. He will adopt a fuller length and still try to retain that vital bounce. He was at the National Academy in Adelaide last year and is certain that he returned a better person, which in turn, made him a better cricketer. Further progress might persuade him to ask Justin Langer to update the reference.

Quick impressions A history of England's young fast bowlers on the toughest tour of all

Frank Tyson
1954-55
England won 3-1
When England lost the First Test by an innings their tiro fast bowler finished with 1 for 160 from 29 overs. Nobody, least of all the Aussies, was prepared for what happened next. Tyson, with the guidance of coach Alf Gover, who was reporting for a Sunday paper, reduced his run from 27 yards to 12. Assisted by Brian Statham's deadly accuracy, he took 10 wickets in the Second Test, nine, including 7 for 27, in the next, and 28 in all, at blistering speed. The Typhoon remains a byword.

Jeff Jones
1965-66
Series drawn 1-1
Injury plagued his embryonic career, but 84 wickets for Glamorgan in 1965 persuaded the selectors that Jones's left-arm hostility would prosper in Australia. His body held up and by the Second Test he was spearheading the attack. He was the leading bowler and his 6 for 118 at Adelaide displayed his heart after Australia's openers put on 244, but England generally lacked vigour. Jones's career was cut off in its prime by a severe elbow injury... but now comes Jones the Son.

Bob Willis
1970-71
England won 2-0
One of the biggest of all selectorial hunches, the 21-year-old Willis, with only one county season behind him, was called up to replacethe injured Alan Ward. He was emphatically quick and soon made the Test team. It was unquestionably the great John Snow's tour (31 wickets and always menacing) but Willis confirmed that Australia were wary of pace. He took five wickets – bowling both Chappells – in the decisive final Test and laid the basis for an outstanding career.

Norman Cowans
1982-83
Australia won 2-1
Speed once more meant the selectors' favours were bestowed on an unlikely choice. Cowans, 21, was thrust straight into the side but seemed destined for failure. Then, with England 2-0 down, he suddenly, astonishingly, came good at Melbourne and set up victory with 6 for 77, which included a spell of 4 for 19 in seven overs. England scraped home by three runs. It seemed they had found a new fast bowler, but Cowans never repeated his feat and played only 19 Tests.

Phillip DeFreitas
1986-87
England won 2-1
It was as a 20-year-old all-rounder who had taken 94 wickets and scored 645 runs in the previous season that another new Botham was picked for the tour. Nor did he disappoint. Taking the new ball on his debut, he took five wickets as England established an early series lead. They went on to retain the Ashes – they have never held them since – and although he declined as the tour went on DeFreitas had played an important part. As he was to do eight years later...

Martin McCague
1994-95
Australia won 3-1
The first ball of the series in Brisbane was a long-hop by DeFreitas which Michael Slater flayed for four; McCague, Ulster-born, brought up in Australia, and fulfilling the old criterion of pace, came on for the second over. Twenty-six came from four overs and the Ashes were promptly as good as lost. McCague was wayward, directionless and spared no opposition taunts. He suffered a stress fracture, left the tour and never played another Test.