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Steve Harmison may be the last man standing from an awesome England pace quartet that terrorised the Australians last summer but the lanky fast bowler believes his team has the capability to beat Pakistan in the four-match Test series starting with the opening game at Lord’s from Thursday (tomorrow).

England have been hit hard by injuries and would be without Simon Jones, Andrew Flintoff and possibly Matthew Hoggard in the first Test.

Beaten comprehensively by Sri Lanka 5-0 in the ODI series earlier this summer, England are seen by many as a team unlikely to win against Pakistan.

But Harmison does not agree. “Injuries are a part of the sport no matter what sport you play. The best teams adapt well to injuries,” he told reporters at a press conference at Lord’s.

He wants England to be one of those teams when they play Pakistan this summer. “We should stop making excuses and try playing well,” he said.

He said that if England played like a unit they can come out with flying colours against Pakistan.

But he said that the hosts would really feel the absence of skipper Andrew Flintoff. “A team can replace any player but replacing somebody like Fintoff is tough. He bowls at 90 mph, bats as number six and is a great fielder. We are certainly going to miss him.”

Harmison would be making a Test return by spearheading a depleted England attack against Pakistan at Lord’s and is hoping to bring an improvement in his form. He bowled unimpressively against Sri Lanka in the one-dayers and agrees that he has to do much better against Pakistan.

The lanky bowler has a habit of taking wickets at Lord’s but confesses that he doesn’t like the cricket world’s most famous ground much.

“It is probably the slope at Lord’s that make me dislike playing there,” he said. “But I’ve been taking wickets there and hope to do that again against Pakistan.”
Source:The News

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