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28 July
2008 Harmison
Shares Test Hunger England one-day
captain Paul Collingwood believes Durham team-mate
Steve Harmison shares his hunger to get back onto
the Test scene, as reported by Ladbrokes. Both men have
been victims of the axe this year - Collingwood as
recently as last week - but are in the 13-man party
for the third npower Test against South Africa,
starting on Wednesday. No-one quite
embodies the team ethic like Collingwood although
Harmison's desire to play for his country has been
questioned due to his own frank admission that he
travels reluctantly and an early retirement from
one-day internationals. However,
Collingwood - who went to the christening of
Harmison's son Charlie yesterday - admitted both
men will be busting a gut to make the XI this
week. "The key thing
for Harmy is that he's as hungry as ever to play
for England, the ambition is really there after all
he's been through," Collingwood said. "He could
have settled for a quiter life with Durham but he
really wants to play for England, like me, and
every time I've been back to Durham people have
said to me 'you wouldn't believe how fast Harmy is
bowling'." And it is that
extra pace that has seen England turn to the
29-year-old for the first time in eight
matches. Collingwood is
also in contention to feature at Edgbaston, having
had his chain of 33 consecutive appearances broken
for the 10-wicket defeat at Headingley last
week. Bet now at
Ladbrokes The 32-year-old's
wretched summer has seen him embroiled in New
Zealander Grant Elliott's run-out controversy,
banned from four limited-overs internationals for
slow over-rates and muster just 92 runs in nine
first-class innings. "It's been a very
difficult season for me but hopefully it will be a
season of two halves and the better half starts
now." Collingwood explained. "I just want this to
be the spark, the catalyst, whatever word you want
to choose, to get me going again. It's been the
worse year of my career but once you have got over
the hurt you look at it and realise that hope is
just around the corner. I worried about what this
meant for me when I was left out of Headingley and
it was without doubt that biggest disappointment of
my career. The only thing that comes close to it
was when I was left out of the second Test in
Pakistan and I worried whether I would ever make it
as a Test player." On that occasion
fortune was on his side as Andrew Strauss' return
home in November 2005 to witness the birth of his
first child allowed him a way back in, and he took
it with scores of 96 and 80 in Lahore. This week his
path back into the XI may be mapped by England's
willingness to revert to a four-man
attack. That would mean
slotting back into the number six spot and
supplementing the bowling with his medium pace, an
all-round role which he carried out for
two-and-a-half years unbroken. Bet now at
Ladbrokes |
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