Moores: Door not yet shut on Harmison
Under-fire coach Peter Moores insists England outcasts Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison still have Test futures despite his part in the selection row which has split English cricket.
Moores came under scrutiny afterAustralian-raised seamer Darren Pattinson was drafted into the side for the second Test against South Africa, ahead of the centrally-contracted duo.
Captain Michael Vaughan later admitted Pattinson’s selection for the Headingley Test had “confused” the squad, prompting Moores and chief selector Geoff Miller to hold clear-theair talks with the skipper yesterday.
Both Harmison and Hoggard have more than 200 Test victims to their names, with Hoggard currently sixth on the all-time list with 248 wickets.
Neither, however, have figured since the first Test in New Zealand four months ago, prompting Harmison to air his frustrations in an interview this week, where he questioned the lack of attention paid to county academies.
Harmison is enjoying a fine season with Durham and tops a list of wicket takers among the main contenders for a place in the third Test at Edgbaston next Wednesday. Selectors will also have noticed that another former Test star, fit-again Simon Jones, tops the averages with an impressive 16.03.
Asked if he thought a line had been drawn on their England careers, Moores said: “No, I don’t, because that would be a foolish thing to do.
“You’ve got two experienced bowlers out there who have played a lot for England and bowled very well in the past. If they are bowling well and deserve to be picked then they should be in the frame. They are experienced players who are desperate to play again, which is great.”
Moores, however, continued to back Pattinson, whose 2-95 on debut did little to silence the critics.
“Certainly there has been a lot of talk about Darren’s bowling but for a lad on debut he did all right,” Moores added. To be fair to him he stuck to his guns and went at threes and got a couple of wickets like everybody else did – nobody really ripped it up.”
