After bowling http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 to a series-levelling win in the third Ashes Test at the WACA in Perth, fast bowler Ryan Harris is excited about the remainder of the series as he hopes to dodge past a troublesome knee and hit his straps running
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Harris produced a special spell on the fourth morning of the Perth match to send England packing for 123 runs in their pursuit of 391 runs. He took four of the five wickets to fall in that session to end with amazing haul of 6 wickets and
9 altogether in the match.
The 31-year-old right-armer who is somewhat a late bloomer in Test cricket is enjoying every moment of success.
He has constant knee problems and his age means that he cannot take the risk of surgery at this stage as it will keep him off the field for some 18 months which would mean the end of his career.
On the other hand, compromise without surgery means a short career yet he is willing to give his hundred percent as long as the knee holds on.
He was elated with his Perth effort and labelled the match a truly special one for him and the team, "It's pretty special," Harris said in Perth. "Leading into the series I was hoping to take part, but obviously with my knee the way it
was I wasn't sure if I was going to be a part of any cricket this summer. At the moment it's a great feeling, to level the series and get back to 1-1, and to take six wickets in an Ashes Test. I'm feeling pretty good at the moment."
His knee is now in such decent shape that when he meets his surgeon David Young, he would not be spending too much time talking about it rather he would have an informal chat with someone he calls his friend.
The Boxing Day test at Melbourne is another big occasion in Harris’s career and he stated that watching previous Boxing Day Tests has given him shivers down his spine. "The thought of it actually gets you nervous," he said. "It's going
to be an amazing feeling - if I'm picked. I got a text before from my surgeon and he said, “100,000 people at the MCG, you're going to enjoy it. He got me thinking that it's going to be a great feeling, especially now with the series 1-1."
The challenge is an enormous one for Harris however he knows that he can do real damage at the highest level of the game against a quality opponent that had the hosts on the mat in the second Test at Adelaide.
Harris was the only bowler who impressed during England’s first innings total of 620/5 declared at the Adelaide Oval and continued to make an impression at Perth before dazzling on the last day of the match.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting is a great fan of Harris and has admired him ever since he made a great comeback in the Aussie fold claiming consecutive 5 wicket hauls against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the 5-match ODI series that the hosts won 5-0 last
summer.
He was also impressive in the tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 and was unlucky to miss action due to recurrence of injuries through out 2010, the most severe problem he had was with his knee and he hopes that he would be lucky to play at least until the World Cup with
out any major worries.
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