Harmison can’t be written off – Paul

May 6 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

PAUL Collingwood has warned it is foolish to write off Steve Harmison as an international cricketer as he insisted the Durham fast bowler would be exerting plenty of pressure on the England selectors this summer.

Collingwood has not been asked to captain Durham in the absence of Dale Benkenstein, who will return home to South Africa to be at the birth of his third child today, but the England one-day skipper remains a figure of authority during a rare spell of county duty.

And the 31-year-old, who has yet to find his form in a Durham shirt so far this season, is adamant Harmison will force his way back into the international fold.

“I think Steve has been a little bit unlucky because he hasn’t been taking the wickets he deserves,” said Collingwood, whose first three games for Durham this season have ended in narrow defeats to Derbyshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire in the Friends Provident Trophy.

“Certainly the accuracy has been there, but maybe his pace isn’t quite where he would want it to be at the moment.

“However, when he gets his rhythm really right he’ll get back up to 90mph. He showed that in the game against Derby the other night. He’s really working hard and all the effort is there. The attitude is spot-on as far as I’m concerned.

“It’s far too premature to be writing him off as an international cricketer. Of course it is.

“We all know he is going to take plenty of wickets for Durham and when he’s doing that he is going to putting a lot of pressure on the other bowlers.

“He is a world-class performer on his day and things will click again, I don’t doubt that.”

With Harmison still feeling his way back after more than a year of injury disruptions and a loss of form, Andrew Flintoff is already back up to full speed after finally recovering from a persistent ankle injury.

The all-rounder was in impressive form against Durham in the rain-affected Friends Provident Trophy game on Sunday and he will look to use the Championship game between the two sides, which starts tomorrow, to cement his return to the England side for the First Test against New Zealand later this month.

“Andrew Flintoff is a star performer isn’t he, it’s as simple as that,” said Collingwood, who will let Australian opener Michael Di Venuto lead the Durham side at Old Trafford.

“He’s world class and he’s fit, which is the most important thing. He’s hitting the deck hard and he looks in pretty good touch with the bat as well.”