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News that Ryan Harris might not be fit to play Test cricket until next year means we may never again see him in the baggy green.
Harris and Shaun Marsh this week were both ruled out of October’s Test series against Pakistan due to their injury struggles.
Marsh will be out for four months because of an elbow surgery, while Harris is yet to begin running again following the knee operation he underwent soon after bowling Australia to victory over South Africa in March.
Harris initially aimed to rush back for the two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, but it is now uncertain whether he will even be able to play in the four-Test series against India at home this Australian summer.
Australian team physio Alex Kountouris this week said they were hopeful Harris would be back bowling before Christmas. However, they would first have to wait and see how his knee responded when he started running again.
Harris is the first player picked in the Test side, according to his skipper Michael Clarke. But how much longer can the injury-plagued veteran nurse himself through an international career?
Prior to having surgery, Harris somehow managed to will his body through 12 consecutive Tests in the space of seven months, despite previously never managing more than three matches on the trot without an injury.
Within days of heroically bowling Australia to a heart–stopping series win in South Africa, Harris was under the knife. His right knee is chronically injured and the 34-year-old hopes this latest surgery will allow him to squeeze another few years out of his career.
Both Harris and the Australian team will be desperate for him to return in time for next year’s Ashes. If he misses the home series against India this summer, he will have just two Tests in the West Indies in May-June next year to prepare for the tour of England.
Harris has become a Test-only player – he has not turned out for Australian in coloured clothing for more than two years. While he has continued to play T20 and 50-over cricket at domestic level this has typically been necessary to either return to fitness following injury layoffs or to keep his body ticking over in between Test series.
Yet he said recently that he felt he had been “pigeonholed” as a long-form player and that he was keen to play for his country in front of home crowds during next year’s One Day World Cup.
Harris’ 50-over credentials are unquestionable – he has 44 wickets at 19 in his limited international career and has been supreme in the Ryobi Cup when he has played in recent summers.
His absence from the ODI side has not hurt Australia due to the plethora of pace options at their disposal.
Left-armers Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc are automatic choices with the white ball, while Victorian seamer Clint McKay, prior to his recent form slump, had been one of the leading bowlers in ODI cricket the past three years.
If Harris can rebound strongly from his injury layoff, McKay’s form trough could allow him to realise his World Cup dream.
He would be an obvious choice if the selectors were looking for a dependable right-arm quick to partner the attacking but occasionally erratic Starc and Johnson at the World Cup in February and March.
The home decks will no doubt offer generous assistance to the pacemen and Australia may seek to mirror the aggressive approach which has borne fruit at Test level by employing three swift and attacking fast men.
But how would Harris’ finicky chassis stand up to this added burden? Can Australia afford to risk their most bankable Test bowler in the World Cup just months out from a tour of England which will give them the chance to win the Ashes abroad for the first time in 14 years?
There is no straightforward answer. Despite his vulnerability to injury, Harris believes he needs regular bowling in matches to harden himself for the contest. The man has been a professional cricketer for almost 14 years, so he knows his own body. However, he is also such a passionate and courageous cricketer that he may try to push his limits too far in an effort to represent his country at every opportunity.
Given he turns 35 in a few months it seems that his next serious injury will almost certainly end his international career. If Australia are to conquer the Test world and prove themselves as the true number one side, they need Harris taking the new ball.
His stranglehold over England’s top order will be a pivotal factor in next year’s Ashes. If he plays, that is. Australia will pray that they can get another two years out of the ageing champ.
After a career blighted by injuries he deserves that.