Lara queries England reliance on Harmison

22 Jul, 2004

West Indies captain Brian Lara said England's dependence on in-form Durham quick Stephen Harmison could be a weakness during the forthcoming four Test series which gets underway at Lord's here on Thursday.
Harmison, 25, took 23 wickets at less than 15 apiece during England's 3-0 Test series win in the West Indies earlier this year - their first on Caribbean soil since 1968.
But Lara told reporters at Lord's on Wednesday he was unsure how England would cope without Harmison.
"He's a good bowler. What is nice is that England want to seem to turn to him each and every single time.
"I'm not sure if he's going to last the entire summer and if we do get hold of him I don't know if they have a plan B," added Lara, who in his last Test innings against England made a world record 400 not out in the drawn fourth Test at Antigua in April.
"We definitely realise he (Harmison) has taken almost double the amount of wickets most of the other bowlers in the England team.
"Our plan is to play confidently against whoever we come up against.
"He's a very good bowler, he's number two in the world but the more you get accustomed to a bowler you've seen them peter out into something you can handle.
"I'm expecting our guys after their experience in the Caribbean to be able to adapt to his style of bowling."
But Lara admitted that England, who after their West Indian triumph enjoyed a 3-0 home whitewashing of New Zealand, would be tough opponents.
"England played really well in the Caribbean and credit must be given to them. They also beat New Zealand 3-0 which was outstanding and definitely a team moving upwards. Our job is to stall that process."
Meanwhile England captain Michael Vaughan insisted he would protect prize asset Harmison: "It's always a worry. You don't want to lose your key bowler and Steve is our key bowler at the minute.
"We'll make sure we look after him but we'll also make sure that we're bowling him at the right moments in the match to win us that Test match."
Injuries have disrupted what had been a settled England side with number three batsman Mark Butcher, an ever-present for the past 42 Tests, ruled out Wednesday with a neck injury following a car accident.
England have recalled Robert Key who has so far only managed one fifty in eight Tests.
Meanwhile key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff's ankle injury means he cannot bowl, leaving a big hole in England's pace attack.
Vaughan himself has also been out of form recently managing just 47 runs in five innings during the one-day triangular series with New Zealand and the West Indies where England failed to reach the final.
And despite a century in the fourth Test against the West Indies, Vaughan only averages a modest 33 since he became England captain last year.

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