Steve Harmison struggle not a surprise - Bravo

Profiles / Editor / 20 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was not surprised to see England paceman Steve Harmison struggle in the first Test at Lord's.

The Durham star has been in superb form for his county in the early part if the domestic season with a hat-full of wickets, but he has struggled to locate the right areas of the pitch and has looked innocuous so far in the first Test of the summer.

Harmison was the chief West Indian destroyer on England's last tour to the Caribbean in 2004, claiming a Test best 7-12 in Jamaica as the tourists romped to a 3-0 series victory.

But he has rarely hit he heights in the past couple of years with many pundits believing the 28-year-old is only in the side on past merits.

Last winter's tour to Australia was the low point for the Ashington-born fast bowler and he looked a shadow of the player who set the tone for the 2005 Ashes success with his initial burst at Lord's two years ago.

While respecting Harmison's ability, Bravo, who hit a rapid 56 for the tourists in their first innings, believes he is a bowler who blows hit and cold -and they caught him on a cold day.

"It wasn't really a surprise to us," he said. "He can be as bad as he can be good.

"We know he has a problem sometimes spraying the ball - and when we saw it start today we thought 'he's having an off-day'.

"When he bowled a ball in the right area we wanted to ensure we did not go after anything we shouldn't - but when he got it wrong we were going to go after anything loose to keep him on the back foot."

"Harmison looked to be having a bad game, not controlling the ball or in good rhythm. But we all know he is a world-class bowler.

"Today the ball was not coming out of his hand the way he wanted - but tomorrow is another day, and maybe he could be the one to change it around for England."

Matched to small stakes at 2.64, Harmison is now trading at 3.15 to be England's top wicket-taker in the series with Monty Panesar on offer as the 2.32 favourite, after his six-wicket haul in the West Indies first innings, and Matthew Hoggard available at 4.9.