I don't think I'd enjoy fielding very much if I didn't think I'd have a chance to bowl I know that I've got to get stronger. I'm not strong enough yet to bowl 20 overs a day."Andy Pick, coach of the England Under-19s, has been pleased with Harmison's progress, particularly in the light of the ankle and back injuries which have troubled him in recent times."I think he gets frustrated sometimes because he can't stay fully fit," Pick said. I've been batting at No 3 and I'm averaging about 70."My batting is the stronger part of my game at the moment, but I see my future as an all-rounder. I've often come on to bowl when the ball's a bit old and I've struggled to make an impact."I've been playing second XI cricket at Durham this summer and I've been pretty pleased with my progress there, playing against older players. But he was troubled by an ankle injury and his bowling yielded only one wicket in his two Tests "I've done OK but I feel I could have done better," he said "I've been a bit disappointed with my bowling. After taking three wickets and making 18 not out and 15 in the one-day series, he was disappointed to be left out of the first Test.He responded with a show of character in the second, hitting 76 runs in the first innings during more than four hours at the crease, and scoring 57 in the first innings at Headingley. The all-rounder was run out cheaply in the morning and was taken off after bowling three costly overs in the afternoon, but England won their Under-19 Test against Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 victory in the series, the first clean sweep in their history.Despite his personal disappointment on the final day, Ben has figured prominently in the summer's one-day internationals and Tests against a young Sri Lankan team who were saved from a whitewash only by the rain which put paid to the second limited-overs game.Harmison's hard-hitting, left-handed batting is the strongest part of his game, but he is keen to develop his right-arm medium-fast bowling.
Ben Harmison is making his own way as a cricketer but comparisons with his older brother are inevitable. At Old Trafford in front of a capacity crowd on Monday it was 26-year-old Steve who bowled the final over of the momentous third Test against Australia, whose last-wicket pair held out to deny England victory. Two days later, in front of a handful of spectators at Headingley, 19-year-old Ben was also in action in an England shirt. The floppy sunhat, broad shoulders and ambling gait all looked familiar. When he bowled, using his tall frame to pummel the ball into the pitch just short of a length, the similarities were even more striking.
It was happening before our very eyes, with real people, their hopes, dreams and failings. And all this fuss over a bit of leather, a hunk of wood, and a ridiculous game that lasts five days and sometimes ends with honours even Has there ever been a better series? I doubt it.. At that moment Andrew Flintoff demonstrated that he has greatness within.Next came Manchester, the crowds on that fifth morning, Ricky Ponting's supreme innings and the unbearable tension of the denouement And it was not a movie. Never let your opponents smell fear.At last came the relief of a final wicket taken in a blur of glove, celebration and despair. And then glory again as the home hero did not join his excited comrades but instead marched across to commiserate with his valiant but defeated foes.
