Madness And Caution;
Cricket And Love

COLLY V HARMY: THE PROS AND CONS

Here's a stat for you: whenever Michael Vaughan has lost a Test in the middle of a series, he has led England to victory in the next game. Granted, this has only happened five times*, but the Spin doesn't want to miss out on the general mood of barminess that has descended on English cricket. It was only a few days ago, after all, that Geoff Miller claimed the selection of Steve Harmison was "no risk at all". Harmy is many things; "no risk" is not one of them.

Mickey Arthur discerned "desperation" in Harmison's recall, and although his judgment must be questioned following his claim at Headingley that there was no difference between the disputed catches claimed by AB de Villiers (definitely not out) and Vaughan (hard to say) - to say nothing of that teeth-grindingly awful reference to Mother Cricket - he has a point. England would not have SOSed Harmison if they had not got things so horribly wrong at Headingley. And then, just to keep us all on our toes, they go and leave him out of the final XI. After months of unprecedented stability, it suddenly feels as if we are back in the 1990s.

But it is the 1990s with a twist. England have lurched not from one madness to another, but from madness to possibly excessive caution. (Tim Ambrose may have been a place too high at No6, but he is now a place too low at No8.) Clearly the problem with playing Harmison as part of a five-man attack - which presumably would not have included Stuart Broad - was an overly long tail. Word from Edgbaston is that the pitch is less bouncy than the selectors originally thought, in which case Paul Collingwood can rightfully take his place as bowler No4: since The Oval last year his 11 Test wickets have cost 25 each.

The other question - that of team balance - favored Collingwood too. Had Harmison played, three players would have been at least a slot too high in the batting line-up: one of Ambrose and Flintoff (both No7s), Ryan Sidebottom (a good No10 rather than a No8) and, despite the guts he showed at Headingley, Jimmy Anderson (still a No10, not a No9). With Collingwood in the team, only Ambrose is out of kilter, but arguably to England's benefit.

But what about the old rule of thumb which says you should pick the side the opposition least wants to face? Arthur's attempt at kidology suggests he was anxious about Harmison's potential reintroduction. It's true that South Africa were the first side to go public about his perceived lack of mental strength during the 2004-05 series, when Graeme Smith said his batsmen would target Harmison. There was scoffing among English hacks, only for Harmison to finish the series with nine wickets at 73. But Arthur also knows that England couldn't do any worse with him in the side; and, despite the assessment of the pitch, they might just have done better.

On that basis, Harmison - a mixture of X-factor and X-rated - might have played, at which point England could start to convince themselves they had an attack worthy of the name: a tall bowler who gets disconcerting bounce; a tall bowler who keeps it extremely tight; a left-arm swing bowler who will be raring to go after missing Headingley through an injury; a right-arm swing bowler who is in the form of his life; and a left-arm spinner who is palpably superior to his opposite number.

Ah yes, Monty. If England lose this series, they may well look back and regret the absence of a bunsen, just as the failure to include Old Trafford on next summer's Ashes rota already feels like a major blunder. Whisper it, but Edgbaston may just be his best chance.

* v South Africa, Trent Bridge and The Oval 2003; v South Africa, Johannesburg 2004-05; v Australia, Lord's 2005; v New Zealand, Wellington 2007-08.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I am sure, whatever he does, he wouldn't be able to hit me again for 36 runs in an over" - fighting talk from the Dutch leg-spinner Daan van Bunge as he contemplates a possible rematch with South Africa and Herschelle Gibbs in next summer's Twenty20 World Cup.

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WE HAVE FIVE WINNERS!

Last week we asked you to identify Monty Panesar's first Test wicket. You all knew it was Sachin Tendulkar, but only five lucky winners could go away with a copy of International Cricket Captain 2008, courtesy of Empire Interactive, signed by Monty himself. And they are: David Collard, Hafeez Saheed, Craig Burley, Frank Partridge and Kat Petersen. Congratulations to them and thank you to everyone else who entered.

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EXTRAS

"Don't marry a cricketer" cautioned an article in the 2003 Wisden Almanack by Derek Pringle, who produced in evidence a gamut of stories ranging from the touching (Phil Tufnell's three-year-old daughter Poppy shouting "bye bye, Daddy" as he landed at Heathrow at the end of the 1997-98 tour of the West Indies), via the faintly absurd (Chris Tavaré's wife Vanessa needed constant sedation to deal with her fear of flying while traveling with the 1982-83 Ashes tourists for the entire 148-day trip) to the downright comical ("We felt unwelcome," says Angus Fraser's wife Denise of the 1995-96 tour to South Africa, "especially when [Ray] Illingworth blamed us for the defeat").

Wisden carelessly fails to include a section detailing whether more women end up leaving cricketers than vice versa, although you can be sure that a jilted player will not have to wait long to have the news confirmed for him on the pitch. When Shane Watson was left in the lurch by the professional dancer Kym Johnson, who had allegedly shacked up with her partner on Dancing with the Stars, Watson was greeted with an unusual war cry after being thrashed for four by a pumped-up Kevin Pietersen during a one-day international at Bristol three years ago: "Just because no one loves you any more!"

But the, er, news that Stuart Broad has ended it with his girlfriend produced the mother of all lame excuses from his PR people. Laura Coleman, aka "the 22-year-old stunner from Asfordby" (copyright: the Melton Times), had only recently been named Miss England when Broad decided to end his 10-month relationship with a girl he reportedly first encountered in playgroup. While Laura described herself as "heartbroken", adding that "we made a mutual decision to part", the official line from the Broad camp was that "Stuart's cricket commitments have grown rapidly. It made continuing the relationship difficult." Cricket's answer "to the dog ate my homework" perhaps?

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THE WEEK IN CRICKET

· Centuries from Malinda Warnapura, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera and Tillekeratne Dilshan, plus a total of 19 wickets from Muttiah Muralitharan (11 for 110) and Ajantha Mendis (eight for 132) help Sri Lanka to victory over India by an innings and 239 runs in the first Test at the SSC in Colombo. India manage a solitary half-century between them.

· Mark Ealham returns match figures of 10 for 76 as Nottinghamshire beat Yorkshire by 112 runs in the county championship at Trent Bridge. Lancashire and Hampshire fight out a nail-biting draw at Old Trafford, and - glory be - Northamptonshire hammer Leicestershire by eight wickets in division two at Northampton.

· Dale Steyn is ruled out of today's third Test at Edgbaston after breaking a thumb and will be replaced by Andre Nel. England recall Steve Harmison to their 13-man squad. To cries of "wot no selectorial consistency?", Darren Pattinson fails to make the cut.

· The ICC confirms that Pakistan will host September's Champions Trophy, despite security worries aired by England, Australia and New Zealand. Kevin Pietersen says he will be very reluctant to go; it seems he is not alone.

· Tyron Henderson holds his nerve in the final over as Middlesex win the Twenty20 Cup, beating Kent by three runs off the last ball at the Rose Bowl and earning themselves games against Trinidad & Tobago (the winners get £90,000 on top of a guaranteed £50,000 appearance fee) and England in the build-up to England's game against Sir Allen Stanford's Supermen in Antigua on November 1.

· The proposed Champions League may not include a side from England because of an ongoing dispute between the Indian and English boards over the presence in the tournament of counties containing ICL players. Middlesex, who have none, will be invited after winning on Saturday; Kent, who have two and who lost in the final, will not.

· But there are also reports of a rival Champions League organized by the ECB and played in Abu Dhabi. A figure of £750m over 10 years has been mentioned.

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CONTACT THE SPIN

Email lawrence.booth@guardian.co.uk and feel free to cc. sports.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk while you're at it.

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