Saturday, July 19, 2008

Harmison pans Pattinson choice

Steve Harmison has suggested England's decision to select Darren Pattinson for the second Test against South Africa shows a lack of faith in the country's youngsters.

The Ashes-winning paceman was one of several fringe seamers overlooked as England brought in Nottinghamshire's inexperienced 29-year-old as cover on the eve of the Headingley match.

Chris Tremlett, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones might also have been in contention to replace Ryan Sidebottom, while Harmison feels there are also some good youngsters on the county circuit.

Durham spearhead Harmison told Sky Sports News: "The amount of money the ECB have pushed into young bowlers, taking them to Chennai and the Academy - are we saying the young bowlers aren't good enough?

"I haven't seen him [Pattinson] bowl - I was asleep when we played them. But good luck to him, he has taken his chance.

"If he deserves it I'm not sure, but good luck to him."

Pattinson was plucked from obscurity having only played 11 first-class matches in his career.

The Grimsby-born, but Australian-raised, player has only come to attention this season having taken 29 wickets for Notts.

Out-of-form all-rounder Paul Collingwood was also left out for the Headingley match but Harmison has backed his Durham team-mate to bounce back.

He said: "The best thing for Colly now is to come down here and score some runs, that's the best way to answer somebody.

"If he scores some runs he is back in the spotlight and the next man back in if the batters are struggling for form."

No comments:

Post a Comment