The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Harmison, Hoggard dropped; Anderson, Broad recalled

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Harmison, Hoggard dropped; Anderson, Broad recalled

— PHOTO: AP

GROUNDED: Steve Harmison (left) has been dropped after a string of poor performances

WELLINGTON: England dropped bowling mainstays Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard for the second Test against New Zealand, striving to arrest its retreat from the glory of the 2005 Ashes series.

Harmison and Hoggard took two wickets between them at a cost of 272 runs in the first Test at Hamilton last week which New Zealand won by 189 runs.

England cast aside the veterans on Wednesday and looked to youngsters Stuart Broad and James Anderson to stimulate its comeback in the three-Test series, to avoid its third straight series loss.

Bewildering

Harmison was to be the bulwark of the England cricket’s resurgence signalled by its Ashes triumph against Australia in 2005 but he has since been more bewildering than belligerent, struggling to maintain any semblance of form.

The uncontrolled wide delivery Harmison bowled to start the 2006-07 Ashes series in Australia marked the start of his steady decline and he bowled without pace or accuracy as England’s third seamer in Hamilton.

Vaughan’s lament

Captain Michael Vaughan expressed sadness at having to discard Harmison and Hoggard and said he had confidence in Harmison’s ability to rediscover his best form.

“Steve is frustrating because we all see how much talent he has,” Vaughan said. “I love captaining Steve Harmison because I know what he brings to the team, but I was disappointed as anyone to see how he bowled and he is as well.

“I know how hard he’s working, how much effort he’s putting in and I know how good he’s been in the dressing room over the last year. It’s obviously disappointing when you see him putting in the effort and it’s not coming out how he would like it out in the middle.”

Gillespie recalled

Meanwhile, Wellington pace bowler Mark Gillespie has replaced provincial teammate Jeetan Patel in the New Zealand side. He is the only change to the side that won the first Test. Gillespie is likely to occupy the third seamer’s role for the match on a green-tinged Basin Reserve strip behind new-ball pair Kyle Mills and Chris Martin.

The match will be Gillespie’s second, and first on home soil. His other Test outing was against South Africa in the second Test loss at Centurion in November where he had match figures of five for 136.

The teams:

England: Michael Vaughan (captain), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Matthew Bell, Jamie How, Stephen Fleming, Ross Taylor, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin. — Agencies

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