The enforced retirement of Ryan Harris is a considerable setback to Australia five days before the first Test, though it is not on the same scale as the injury to Glenn McGrath about 40 minutes before the start of the Edgbaston Test of 2005.
Harris has been a phenomenal Ashes cricketer. The figures prove it. Out of his 113 Test wickets, 57 have been against England, at the remarkable average of 20. Two years ago in England he was Australia’s best bowler, taking 24 wickets in four matches – he was “rested” in the first Test at Trent Bridge to protect a body that often rebelled, a decision Australia came to regret.
However, the figures do not tell the whole story. Harris is the embodiment of a true Aussie cricketer. He has been an extremely skilful, late-developing bowler, especially effective in England where the ball can keep swinging, as well as forthright and capable lower-order batsman. He is selfless, wholehearted and fiercely competitive. He is also universally respected and liked by the cricketers of both sides. Harris played the game in the right way. Jason Gillespie, now of this parish, spoke for everyone when he tweeted with an economy, which may not be permitted in his columns: “Great bowler, even better bloke.”
It seems unthinkable that Harris once considered playing for England. His father was born in Leicester before emigrating, which meant that Harris has been the proud possessor of an English passport. He made the right choice even if he had to wait until he was 29 to don the baggy green.
He was a bit of a journeyman in the first half of his career when he played for South Australia. He bowled at little more than medium pace, had a good time and no one, including himself, foresaw an international career. In 2008, he moved to Queensland and there came the recognition that he could bowl quickly. Somehow you would not expect his explanation of the transformation to be over-technical. “I don’t think I did anything new with my action but I just began to work harder and look after myself better. And one day it just sort of clicked.”
Harris has always looked as if he was built like an ox – or indeed a rhino, his nickname – but this was often illusory. There was a delicacy in those fingers behind the seam, which ensured that the ball swung late. He was forever battling with dodgy knees and various other treacherous bits of his body, and, to use a 21st-century verb, he was “cotton-woolled” so that he might be fit for the Ashes. Sadly, the plan has not worked out this time.
Harris’s absence means that the identity of Australia’s three-man pace attack for Cardiff is now certain. They will surely continue with the trio, which was so effective in the Caribbean, namely Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood, formidable bowlers even though all three lack the experience of succeeding in Test cricket in England.
For the moment the ever-reliable Peter Siddle stands by and very shortly the Australian tour party will be reinforced by the arrival of Pat Cummins. He is from Sydney, 22 years old and in his solitary Test match in Johannesburg in 2011 he took seven South African wickets. And he is quick. He was in Australia’s World Cup squad but had to give way to Hazlewood in the latter part of the tournament. Cummins is a high-quality replacement with bags of potential. But make no mistake: the Australian tour party is diminished on and off the field by the departure of Harris.