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A foolish decision by the selectors to leave him out. Allan Donald has said that Harmison is the bowler the SA batsmen fear the most. So I'm sure the South African team(especially the batsmen) will be delighted that Steve isn't playing.
Still it's good news for Durham.
Great to see Plunkett back in the test squad.

Whether Harmy's ommission is a wise move by England is questionable - but it is great news for Durham.

Well done to Pudsey. He has a big chance of adding to his test caps over the winter. His all round skills obviously swayed selectors - as injuries to Broad or Prior will leave England with a long tail. Good luck to him.

It's a shame the way Harmison has been treated by England over the years. He still has plenty to offer and I think the selectors have made a big mistake not selecting him

I'm hoping some good early county form in 2010 might put him back in the frame next summer.

Congratulation Pudsey- all the hard work has been rewarded.Just stay fit.

The only down side is that if he makes his mark he may not be around with Durham a lot next season.It would give Evans the opportunity they are clearly looking for to vie for a places with Thorp, Bob and Mitch.

Harmy's non selection is not entirely a surprise esp after losing his central contract.Will he still go the SA to play in their 1st class competition? There should be an announcement in the next week.

I felt Plunkett was knocking on the door with his performances this season and I'm pleased that this has been recognised by the selectors. There are 3 Durham players in the test squad and a shame it couldn't have been 4. Strange that Durham see Harmy as our premier bowler but England feel Onions & Plunkett are better.

Perhaps Flower's view is a clue. You need to be consistently on form in Tests but possibly can get away with a bad day at the office in 1st class esp at Durham where there are others to turn to who can be very effective.

Harmy's threat in the CC, even when not firing well, is considerable and can take help wickets for other bowlers.

Harmison has been badly treated by the selectors over the past couple of years. Everytime he played a test and bowled modestly he was dropped for the next game and everyone knows that Steve needs to play regularly in order to get in form. There's no way he was going to bowl well when he was in for one game and out of the next. It would be funny if he did sign for a state side in SA and found himself playing against the England side in a warm-up match!
The other thing that annoys me about his treatment is the way he has his character and committment questioned when he doesn't do well. How many times have we heard about that opening delivery in the 2006 Ashes series? I'm certain it would have been forgotten if any other bowler had delivered that ball but somehow it's used as an example of Harmison 'bottling it'. Very unfair and Steve has every right to be annoyed at the way he has been treated by the selectors and media.

That over was not a bad over.Harmy tucked Langer up twice,had him on the ground once,although Langer got his bat on the ball for a four,and an edge through the slip cordon.Not the best over but not the worst.

See link to video

[video.google.com]

Remember this one too.

[video.google.com]#

Happy memories.

An assessment from Ottis- muted support

"He's still a top class bowler on his day," Gibson told Cricinfo. "He's still capable of bowling high end 80mph so he'll have to sit down in the winter and evaluate what his next step is and stuff like that but I've no doubt he's still a quality performer.

"Steve will have to sit down and decide whether he has got the best out of himself when he's played for England. There are times when he has done, obviously, and he's won Tests for England but there have been times when he's not been as good as he could have been. All the time I've worked with him he's always listened and taken on board what you say. He'll have to sit down and decide whether he's been as good for England as he could have been."

Gibson believes Harmison's public admittance that he was reluctant to tour Australia next winter will have been factored into the decision not to take him to South Africa. He also issued an ultimatum that he wouldn't want to tour and then carry the drinks.

"Harmy said at some point, and Geoff Miller said it again today, that he wasn't keen to go to Australia next year so perhaps the selectors have looked at the evidence and decided now is as good a time as any to look to the future."

Miller's quote about Harmy not wanting to go to Oz just to carry the drinks suggests to me that they feel he is not prepared to gve 100% commitment to England so they are not selecting him.

If England don't want him there are many Durham supporters who will be happy to see plenty of him. And many opposing county batsmen who wont.

Southwood-I can't remember if it was Langer or Matthew Hayden but I one of them has said they couldn't believe the first ball of that over received so much attention when the other deliveries were hostile and extremely difficult to face.
Seems to me as if the players all rate Harmison whereas the so-called experts in the press are the ones who always attack him.
Perhaps Steve should have kept quiet about not wanting to tour Australia but-although it is important to look to the future-surely the strongest available side should have been selected for the South Africa tour. Aren't they number one in the test rankings?
If things go badly for England I bet the same people who have been criticising Harmison will turn on the selectors and demand to know why he wasn't playing.

Sadly his fiery bowling in the first 2005 Ashes test seems to be forgotten by Harmison's critics who seem to want to bring up the first test of the 2006/07 series...or more precisely, the first ball.

It annoys me that critics always suggest Harmison has an attitude problem, or that he his homesick on tour. They are wrong on both counts but the fourth estate don't like to let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Had he been left alone to do what he does best, I feel Harmison could have taken 300+ wickets for England. A lot of England players are currently jumping on the bandwagon by bringing out autobiographies at present (crazy when they still have plenty of time left in their careers). I feel that when Harmy finally retires he will have quite a story to tell.

An extract from an interview, with TWC magazine.with Mick Arthur, the SA coach, is either a bit of spin or he genuinely believes the Bunny is a like for like replacement for Harmy in the Tast squad.

Another player who has made himself an important part of the England side is Graham Onions.

And Arthur believes the paceman can make up for the absence of Steve Harmison in South Africa, although he revealed some of his players were happy not to be facing Onions' Durham team-mate


"Graham Onions impressed us in the Champions Trophy," added Arthur. "He is almost a like-for-like replacement for Harmison.

"Harmy would have been a handful and a lot of our batters are happy he's not coming.

"But I can see how (England coach) Andy Flower and (captain) Andrew Strauss are thinking.

"Harmison's obviously not in their planning for the Ashes next year so they might as well expose someone like Onions to what will be as tough a tour, if not tougher, as what they will experience Down Under."