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MALCOLM ON ENGLAND ODI SERIES IN CARIBBEAN

If England’s one-day team are to succeed in the West Indies and bounce back from November’s whitewash at the hands of India, they will have to target No1 one-day batsman Chris Gayle, believes former Test star Devon Malcolm.

The five-match series, which begins on March 20 in Guyana, will see a return to the shorter form of the game for new England captain Andrew Strauss, who has not featured since England’s miserable World Cup campaign two years ago.

Middlesex batsman Strauss’s main job will be to pick up his players who were defeated 5-0 by India before Christmas, knowing that good results will breed confidence ahead of the 20Twenty World Cup on home soil in June and also for Australia’s Ashes visit a month later.

But Windies captain Gayle, who, in January, jumped five places in the International Cricket Council’s one-day rankings to first, will have to be halted if England are to prevail. The 31-year-old, who has a One-Day-International average above 40, was central to his team’s 2-1 series victory in England two years ago.

“Chris Gayle is a fantastic cricketer,” says Jamaican-born Malcolm, a veteran of 40 Tests for England. “He is so laid back that no situation seems to faze him. He just turns up and does his thing.

“He is the number one batsmen in one-day cricket at the moment, so England will have to focus right and aim to get him out very early. There could be trouble if not, because he will really start to punish the bowlers if he gets going.”

Malcolm, 45, reckons Durham quick Steve Harmison, who terrorised Gayle while on tour in the Caribbean five years ago, will have to be firing on all cylinders again, if the powerful batsman is to be stopped.

If the 30-year-old can rekindle the form witnessed in 2004, when he claimed a career-best seven for 12 in the Sabina Park Test, then England will be difficult to beat. Gayle averaged 26 against England in that Test series and Harmison, in particular, was impressive against the Jamaican, dismissing him four times in seven innings.

Harmison retired from ODIs after the World Cup only to be recalled for the autumn series against South Africa, and showed his worth as a re-ignited England stormed to a 4-0 win under the captaincy of Kevin Pietersen.

“A firing Steve Harmison will be a vital part of the England side in the ODIs against the West Indies, and will be important if they are to win the Ashes again in the summer,” continues Malcolm. “To get him firing, Steve needs to prove that he has completed his rehabilitation. I feel going back to the Caribbean, with the memories he has of the place, will have a good and positive effect on him.

“Hopefully he can feed from that energy that he felt in the Caribbean five years ago, and really get his bounce and pace back. He needs to build up some momentum bowling in the West Indies, and take that into the Ashes series.

“When he is at the top of his game, with that bounce and pace, and with the players that Australia have lost – Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Glen McGrath – England should win that series.

“You could say that the West Indies are the ideal team to play at the moment – ahead of the Ashes and after what has gone of following the India tour. But they will want to really lift their game against England – everyone wants to do well against the old colonial master.”

The former Derbyshire bowler believes that, with the Ashes a mere six months away, it was better that the public falling out of captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores happened when it did rather than at a later date.

“It was good to sort out those problems when they did,” Malcolm adds. “It is very important that England have a good tour of the West Indies and get back to winning ways.

“If there has ever been a time when Australia have been ripe for a beating, then now is the time – even though England have been having problems with the coach and the captaincy. But I think KP will turn up and play even better than before.

“Now Kevin can concentrate on what he knows best, especially in the one-day series. He is a showman and that is his oxygen – he needs to perform. When he really performs, England win. I am not worried one bit about his performance.

“It should be a great series, and I am hopeful that England, with Harmison firing, can beat the West Indies. That will set them up for the 20Twenty World Cup and give them the momentum to go on and beat Australia and regain the Ashes.”

Labels: Andrew Strauss, Chris Gayle, cricket, Devon Malcolm, England, Steve Harmison, West Indies

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 7:51 pm | Permalink | Comments

STRAUSS: I WILL MAKE HARMISON FIRE

Andrew Strauss has marked Steve Harmison as England’s main weapon of attack and is hopeful that the Durham quick can reproduce his career-best haul of 7-12 in the Caribbean once again.

The 30-year-old has been dogged by poor form since achieving those figures in the first Test against the West Indies in Jamaica almost five years ago. But Strauss, the new England captain, believes that Harmison can propel his country to victory – not only in the upcoming Test series, but also in the summer’s highly-anticipated Ashes clash on home soil.

“If Steve Harmison is bowling well and at 90mph, he's the first name on pretty much any team sheet in the world,” said the Middlesex opener before his team flew out to the Caribbean on Wedsnesday morning.

“Clearly he's as frustrated as anyone that he hasn't been able to do that as consistently as he'd like. I've spoken to him a couple of times since we've come back from India [following former captain, Kevin Pietersen’s resignation] and he has a clear understanding of where he needs to go to bowl consistently at that sort of pace.

“I'm happy with what he's said to me in terms of how he's going to get there. I'm confident. He's a very important player for us in terms of the threat that he gives us on the pitch.

“We all feel this could be a really big tour for him and looking forward to the Ashes if he can hit his straps on this tour we're in a good position.”

Strauss added that Pietersen, shorn of his responsibilities as skipper, would continue to be a key figure. “He is going to play a very big role,” he added of the Hampshire batsman, “but he has had a lot on his plate recently and it’s very important that he has got the ability to concentrate on his batting and get the runs that we all know he can.”

Labels: Andrew Strauss, England, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Harmison, West Indies

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 11:53 pm | Permalink | Comments

HARMISON RECALLED FOR THIRD TEST

Steve Harmison, the Durham fast bowler, has been handed the chance to revive his international career having been named in England’s 13-man squad for the crucial third Test against South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

Geoff Miller, head of England’s national selectors, challenged the 29-year-old to bowl well enough to save England’s series - they are trailing 1-0 with two Tests remaining - and reclaim his long-term position in the team.

Harmison, who has 212 Test wickets at an average of 31.39, had been dropped in March after bowling 1-121 in England’s defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton. But the 6ft 4in quick bowler has since impressed for his county, approaching something like his 2004 venomous best. With 41 wickets in nine first-class games at an average of 22.82, he is the leading wicket-taker in the domestic game, and proved too hard for Miller to overlook again.

“Steve has been bowling well for Durham this season,” Miller said. “He is now doing what he wasn’t doing in New Zealand. But he has come back, really worked hard and started performing like we know he can perform.

“His inclusion in the Test squad gives us another option in terms of our bowling attack. I hope it’s a rebirth of his England career. If he bowls well and does the job we ask him to do then it could well be.”

Ryan Sidebottom and Paul Collingwood are also recalled at the expense of Chris Tremlett and Darren Pattinson, a surprise late replacement for the injured Sidebottom at Headingley.

England’s selectors had been criticised for picking the Nottinghamshire seam bowler for the second Test, which was lost by 10 wickets. Captain Michael Vaughan conceded that the selection of Pattinson, who earned figures of 2-96, was “confused”. But Miller was quick to defend his selection, though admitting it was “a bit left field“.

“I can see why there might have been confusion,” he said, “because it went away from our normal procedure and consistency. But we had watched Darren over the season and he had out-bowled everybody else. He merited his place in that squad and then we needed him because of the injury to Ryan. It was a bit left field, yes, but we still think it was the right decision.”

Sidebottom, an international revelation since his comeback last season, looks likely to start if he regains full fitness. Miller continued: “Ryan has been progressing well with his back injury over the past week and we're confident he'll be fit for selection but obviously he'll be monitored closely in the lead up to next Wednesday. “

For 32-year-old all-rounder Collingwood, dropped for the last Test, the recall provides him with a chance to bolter England’s scoring, after they managed only 203 compared to South Africa’s 522 in the first innings at Headingley.

Miller added: “Paul was unlucky to miss out on a place in the team for the second Test match but this decision was based on a number of factors. He has shown what a true professional he is by returning to Durham over the past week and playing well for his county.”

England squad: Michael Vaughan (capt), Tim Ambrose (wk), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss.

Labels: cricket, Edgbaston, England, South Africa, Steve Harmison

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 12:07 pm | Permalink | Comments