The Hindu : Harmison shines in the rain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Harmison shines in the rain

By Ted Corbett

PORT OF SPAIN, MARCH 20. You could tell from the expression on the face of Brian Lara, captain of a West Indies side, which is letting him down on a basis too regular to ignore, that he was not just having a bad day at the office but that he wished he was anywhere else on earth. He had his head in his hands, he stared into space a lot as he gave a wonderful imitation of the chief executive officer of a large company who knows he will soon have plenty of time to spend in his garden.

The worst news for Lara by the end of the first day of the second Test between West Indies and England was that he was partially responsible because for the second time in succession he was out for nought and there was more than a touch of uncertainty about the decision.

Ten minutes earlier the whole West Indies team must have thought that it had killed the six days of criticism, made sense of the church prayers for its quick recovery and cooled the blazing editorials that followed its 47 all out in Jamaica.

Its openers had not only put on 100 but had scored 90 in boundaries showing a discretion in picking the right ball to hit which had been a basic lack during those terrible two hours at Sabina Park. Then came eight balls of disaster all bowled, as if you didn't know, by one Steve Harmison, giving his imitation of Frank Tyson circa 1954-55 when his 28 wickets destroyed an Australia side big on confidence and light on technical skills.

He moved to the pavilion end for his second spell and in two overs persuaded Chris Gayle with a lifting ball that went straight to the keeper and the promising young Devon Smith plumb lbw. Lara who had dragged himself to the crease slowly enough to ensure that there was no time for a new over but gloved his fourth ball to gully. West Indies was 110 for three at lunch and, sadly, the rest of the day is a story of rain and a pretty wet performance from its middle order and below. One long break and Shivnarine Chanderpaul was caught at the wicket; another long rain break and England began to mop up some of the West Indians who ought not to be playing for a whole variety of reasons.

We had a glimpse of the raw talent of Dwight Smith, who made a hundred at motorway speed on debut in South Africa. He is no more a Test No. 6 than Andrew Flintoff was in his early days but I suppose that he will cut loose in devastating fashion more than once before he gets a strong understanding of his trade.

He hit Harmison for six and then tried a similar stroke and was caught at short leg. Ramnaresh Sarwan made 21 in a more convincing fashion than he showed at Sabina but flashed at Harmison and was caught at slip: 143 for six. By this time Harmison had five more victims which takes his total from the last five Tests to 28 and makes comparisons with Tyson relevant. Hoggard removed Tino Best and Michael Vaughan, the England captain, who is one of the carthorse variety of fielders, chased down and threw out Adam Sanford from fine leg.

West Indies: 1st innings: C. Gayle c Read b Harmison 62, D. Smith lbw b Harmison 35, R. Sarwan c Flintoff b Harmison 21, B. Lara c Giles b Harmison 0, S. Chanderpaul c Read b Jones 2, Dwayne Smith c Hussain b Harmison 16, R. Jacobs (batting) 29, T. Best c Read b Hoggard 1, A. Sanford (run out) 1, P. Collins (batting) 6; Extras (lb-7, w-6, nb-3) 16; Total (for eight wkts.) 189.

Fall of wickets: 1-100, 2-110, 3-110, 4-113, 5-142, 6-143, 7-148, 8-165.

England bowling: Hoggard 15-3-38-1, Harmison 17-5-48-5, Flintoff 10-3-38-0, Giles 3-0-20-0, Jones 9-1-38-1.

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