With the Ashes neatly wrapped up just in time for Christmas, it’s time to assess Australia’s stocks moving forward.
And no stock is more important to the national team than Ryan Harris.
While Mitchell Johnson and his moustache might be grabbing all the headlines and Man-of-the-Match awards, Harris has quietly picked up 12 wickets at an average of just over 23.
While these figures are excellent, the fact they are actually slightly worse than Harris’ career average of 22.45 shows you just how deadly the Queenslander is at Test level.
Given Melbourne and Sydney are now dead rubbers, and with a tour of South Africa on the horizon, the temptation is there to rest Harris for at least one of the home Tests.
With the number-one ranked Proteas certain to provide stiffer opposition than the Poms have this summer, the inclusion of Harris and his wicket-taking ability will be essential to breaking Smith, Amla, De Villiers, Kallis and company.
The fact that Harris has played all three Tests this summer – not to mention a run of seven consecutive Tests since the Lord’s match – is something of a miracle given his injury history.
With a list of breakdowns as long as Shane Watson’s (alright, maybe not that long), it seems that Harris’ knee/ankle/hammy/calf giving up the ghost is a more imminent threat to our cricketing dominance than childhood obesity.
Sure enough, towards the end of the Perth Test, there were whispers that Harris was struggling with a knee injury.
At 34, Harris is fast approaching the age at which most quicks hang up their boots, and with our platoon of young fast bowlers more often injured than they are playing, it is essential we squeeze the most out of Harris before he retires.
If this means prioritising which Tests he plays in order to aim for series wins, then so be it.
But hang on, you might say, there’s a month between the Sydney Test and the South African tour, that’s plenty of time for him to recover.
And you’d be right, to a degree.
Short turnarounds between Tests have been a danger zone for Harris in the past, and with only three days between Melbourne and Sydney – and given the yards he has already put in this summer – surely the risk of him breaking down is high.
And with Australia having secured the Ashes, winning at the MCG and SCG no longer becomes as important as the South African tour. That is, if you take Michael Clarke at his word when he says Australia are aiming to regain the number one Test ranking.
Call it ‘informed player management’, call it ‘rotation’, call it whatever you want; the simple fact is Australia is a much more dangerous team with one R. Harris in it.
Of course, Australia will be loath to tinker with the unchanged line-up that has given them such success and harmony this summer, but they need to look at the bigger picture.
So please, Inverarity and colleagues, look towards South Africa and give our match-winner the rest he deserves in either Melbourne or Sydney.
You run the risk of short-term pain against England, but surely the greater risk is pushing Harris too far and not having him on the plane in February?
jammel
Guest
Definitely Harris should play. He would be one of the three quicks in a World XI - along with Steyn and probably Johnson right now. Did we ever rest McGrath? I think not…. Were Ambrose/Wasim/Waqar rested….? No. I think the real question is - if Harris isn't fit - is Faulkner the man who should be 12th man? I think not. Faulkner is chosen for his all round abilities; we don't need that. We need a strike bowler. I think someone like Bird would be a better proposition to fill in for Harris if Harris isn't fit, at least until Pattinson's ready to go.
jameswm
Guest
Bichel better than Pattinson? You're kidding, right?
jameswm
Guest
Post-surgery if he can move freely, how would he not get back into the team? He might be moving more freely. The guy is in the best 2 or 3 quicks in the world. So when he's fit and in form, we play him. I don't care if he's 40.
JGK
Roar Guru
If nothing else he deserves to play in a Boxing Day test.
Mykool Trip
Guest
If he's fit he plays its as simple as that this resting rubbish just creates weak cricketers its called TEST cricket for a reason. I say be gone all resting and rotation policies!!!
Johnno
Guest
James Pattison is a World Class bowler, and quality. Wow so many aussy fans are turning on him. he has 1 shocker Ashes test then is death rided down the pecking order and he got injured anyway in that match. He was the aussy spearhead our frontline bowler, 1 shocker and he's down for the count, yet we give Mitchel Johnson so many chances, hard to work that one out. Bichel has never been our frontline or strike bowler. More 1st change and soemtimes open the bowling at best. Carl Rackemann was very good injury hampered him, he was better than Bichel at his best, Bichel is good ODI bowler as I said. Colin Miller was in 2001 voted Australia's test player of the year. Rackemman's average is 29, Bichel's is 32 in test cricket. Colin Miller's bowling average is 26. And he has a much better economy rate than Andy Bichel. Colin Miller's is 2.64, Bichel's is 3.36. Colin Miller in 18 tests has 69 wicket's, Bichel in 19 tests has 58 wickets. Funky's got Bich covered on every stat.
Johnno
Guest
Steve Waugh faded. I'd like to see Steve Waugh's bowling stats 1985-90
Luke Smyke
Roar Pro
Completely agree Abigail... He cant be wrapped in cotton wool because he may not regain the strength the break free of it should he remain there for too long
Luke Smyke
Roar Pro
James Pattinson, Colin Miller, Carl Rackemann better than Bichel...youve got to be kidding right?
eric
Guest
This is a gap filler article. Lehman has said the best XI will represent Australia. If Harris is fit, he's in. Nothing to see here folks. Anyway, I'm not convinced resting players helps prevent injuries. There were plenty of broken down bowlers in recent years when the resting/rotation policy was in.
abigail
Guest
Boof has the right attitude. Play your best 11. If Harris is fit he plays if not someone else gets an opportunity. At 34 Harris has a limited time left in test cricket and I'm sure he wants to play every game he can.
Howzat
Guest
Watson average 31.88 econ 2.77 SR 69 S Waugh average 37.44 econ 2.64 SR 84.8 Based on the figures you'd have to say Watson is the better bowler but there's not much in it
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Could try again, only this time in English?
Johnno
Guest
The 3rd Test finished 17th December, Boxing day test is 26th. So that's 9 days rest, that seems plenty, or maybe it's not for Ryan Harris I don't know. If he plays in Sydney, assuming the Boxing day test last 5 days, plus 3 days rest before Sydney, that means 17 days 2 and half weeks without any cricket, he will be flat and rusty and may even pick up an injury. I say play MCG then rest up at SCG.
Jo M
Guest
Agree. The only team that should play in Sydney is the one that has played the first 3 tests. That is where the urn gets handed over and to have anyone else in there would be just wrong. Hopefully that will be the case, barring injury of course.
Wilson Flatley
Roar Rookie
Good luck telling him he'll be missing the Boxing Day test in front of 100,000... Likewise i can't imagine him being too happy missing the match where the urn gets handed over and the fireworks go off in Sydney... Let him play, if he breaks down then we deal with it.
AlanKC
Guest
There were plenty of reports of his knee playing up before the WACA test. They gave him an extra day off from net bowling plus put him through a fitness test prior to naming the 11, I'd call that an indication they should manage him to get the best out of his remaining time.
AlanKC
Guest
He actually did a hamstring in the Oval test in England so while it's true that he's played 7 in a row he spent 2 months rehabilitating the hammy between tests 4 and 5. I'd rest him for one of the two.
Johnno
Guest
Okay well I'll take Mark Waugh off and put him to Tier 4, he was a part-timer but his pace was handy in short spells, was quite quick. Steve Waugh when younger was a good bowler about Shane Watson standard maybe better.
Dexter The Hamster
Guest
So Mark Waugh is as good a bowler as Merv Hughes, P Siddy, and Kasper??? Johnno, sometimes I don't know what is going on with your rankings.....