The Ashes: Harmison 'froze'

Steve Harmison has admitted he "froze" when sending down his widely derided first ball of the series at The Gabba last Thursday. The Durham fast bowler got England's Ashes defence off to the most embarrassing of starts when his first delivery was so wide it flew straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip.

Harmison returned first-innings figures of one for 123 in Australia's 602 for nine declared and the lanky fast bowler admitted he was overawed early in the game.

"No excuses, no mitigating factors. My performance in the first Test of this Ashes series has been nowhere near what I'm capable of," he told the Mail on Sunday. "It just wasn't good enough and I hold my hands up. I do feel I've bowled better as the game has progressed.

"I probably couldn't have bowled worse than I did in that opening two-over spell. When it came to bowling the first ball, I froze. I let the enormity of the situation get to me. It all seemed so alien to me. My whole body was nervous. I could not get my hands to stop sweating. The first ball slipped out of my hands, the second did as well and, after that, I had no rhythm."

Inevitably, perhaps, Harmison says he will do better next time: "I am certain that I can turn things round, given the opportunity to do so in Adelaide. In fact, I was encouraged by my final spell in Australia's first innings here when, even though the slog was on, I felt I was hitting the deck harder and bowling straighter than I had before."