Harmison did get three wickets.. and two WERE with the older ball:
Code:
124.4 Harmison to Silva, OUT, and that came from nowhere ... Harmison bends his back, bangs it in, it climbs, Silva can't get over it, the ball takes the shoulder and loops to Bopara who takes a gentle but low catch at point
136.3 Harmison to Mubarak, OUT, and the effort pays off this time, banged in, Mubarak can't get over it and the ball loops slowly off the glove to Bell at backward point
186.5 Harmison to HAPW Jayawardene, OUT, finally the breakthrough, extra bounce does the trick as Jayawardene tries to lift it over the slips but gets a top edge through to Prior...a deserved third scalp for Harmison
All very well... but Broad created two false shots in three balls in this over:
Code:
142.3 Broad to HAPW Jayawardene, no run, dropped firmly clipped off his toes but not quite over it, Bopara at short midwicket makes a brilliant attempt to catch it two inches off the turf a yard to his right
142.4 Broad to HAPW Jayawardene, no run, outside off, no shot
142.5 Broad to HAPW Jayawardene, no run, wide, driven but again not over it and a thick edge scoots to fourth slip
So Broad can do a bit with the old ball.... and Sidebottom showed himself capable of bowling overs like this one:
Code:
50.1 Sidebottom to DPMD Jayawardene, no run, massive appeal as the ball beats Jayawardene's prod, but a good decision as it pitched marginally outside the line of leg stump and was probably going on to miss leg anyhow
50.2 Sidebottom to DPMD Jayawardene, 1 run, angled deliberately to third man
50.3 Sidebottom to Vandort, no run, good line, defended
50.4 Sidebottom to Vandort, no run, probing line from Sidebottom, this is giving Vandort food for thought
50.5 Sidebottom to Vandort, no run, firm defensive drive to mid-on
50.6 Sidebottom to Vandort, no run, genuine play and miss, Sidebottom looks a wronged man as he turns away
If a decent bowler delivers enough balls he'll eventually create a bit of pressure and the occasional chance: doesn't alter the fact that games are generally won and lost by seamers when the ball is new and swinging / seaming / reversing.
ps. I recall Harmy's ball-of-the-Ashes in 2005... but if Broad or Harmison could (at will) match Fernando's slower ball then they would be a different proposition entirely - that bit of guile is what both of them really need.
14-12-2007, 08:47 AM
in reply to Rachael's post starting "Better 10 overs than no overs: without..." 
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