Harmison man of the match again

By Jon Steer
March 23 2004

Steve Harmison was named man of the match for England's seven wicket win over the West Indies in the second test. Harmy has now been man of the match in each of his last three tests!

Despite only taking one wicket in the West Indies second innings Harmison was the obvious choice for man of the match. The other options would have been Graham Thorpe's 90 in Englands first innings and Simon Jones' five wickets in the WI 2nd innings.

Many observers agreed with Harmy's assessment that his performance in the first innings was better than that in the second innings of the first test where he finished with the incredible figures of 7-12.

This time, Steve recorded figures of 6-61 in the first innings 1-40 in the second innings. The bonus in the second innings was that the single wicket was that of Brian Lara. With Lara on just 8 and facing, Michael Vaughan brought Harmison into the attack and was rewarded immediately when Harmy's first ball was fast and straight and trapped Lara lbw.

With 16 wickets in two tests, Harmy must be really enjoying the tour so far... The irony for him is that this brilliant performance is almost certain to get him a place in the one day squad and keep him away from home longer...