Harmison given chance to earn Test place

Final chance: Peter Moores has given Steve Harmison the chance to push for a place in England's Test side, but added 'there's no guarantees for anybody' © Getty Images

Steve Harmison has been granted his wish, and will play in Sunday's final warm-up against a Sri Lanka Board President's XI at the Nondescripts ground in Colombo, with a view to securing his place in next week's first Test at Kandy. Harmison, whose boots were mislaid en route from South Africa, bowled just six ineffective overs in England's opening fixture at Colombo Cricket Club earlier this week, but insisted afterwards that he was here to fight for his place. England have listened to his crie de coeur, and taken a punt on his experience.

Harmison's place in the final reckoning comes at the expense of Stuart Broad, who impressed during England's one-day series victory in September, but has effectively been ruled out of contention for Kandy after missing the cut for this game. Ryan Sidebottom, who was England's most effective bowler in the opening match, sits out to allow others - most notably James Anderson - a chance to fight for selection. Barring an unforeseen change of heart from the management, Sidebottom is guaranteed to feature in what will be his first overseas Test.

Fitness permitting, Matthew Hoggard is also a dead-cert for selection, having carved a reputation as England's most reliable seamer on subcontinental wickets. He enduring a stuttering start at the CCC last week, in what was his first England outing since the summer, but grew in stature as the game went on. "There's no guarantees for anybody," said England's coach, Peter Moores, "but anyone playing in this game has a great opportunity to stake a claim for the Test side."

This is the first time that Moores has had to contend with the constraints of a Test tour itinerary, and he admitted that this selection had been a tough decision. "We're trying to get the right amount of cricket into our lads and give ourselves every chance to identify what we think is the best team for that first Test," he said. "A lot of the lads are going to be very competitive and fighting for a place, which is a great place for the team to be."

Plenty remains to be determined by the nature of the Kandy wicket, but England are well aware of its reputation as the most seamer-friendly ground in the country, and have settled on the pool of fast bowlers that they believe are best equipped to delivery victory. "You don't want to take risks unless you have to take risks," said Moores, but nevertheless, by omitting the steady Broad in favour of two more maverick players in Harmison and Anderson, England seem eager to attack a Sri Lankan side that has just returned from a demoralising tour of Australia, even if it means dropping their guard in other areas. Broad, for instance, would have made a much more viable No. 8 than any of the bowlers now in the Test shake-up.

In Anderson's case, he seemed to have slipped down the pecking order after receiving treatment for a stiff back ahead of the first game, but Moores was keen to show faith in the man who was appointed as the captain of England's bowlers last summer. "Jimmy has proved he's a very skilful bowler and gives us lots of options, not just with the new ball - there's his cutters and he also reverses it. It's tough on Stuart who's got a knack for taking wickets and has already learned to cut the ball on these surfaces, but it'll be a tougher decision come the Tests."

Under Duncan Fletcher's regime, first-class fixtures became increasingly rare as England tended to assess their options in 12-a-side games, right up until the selection of the Test team. But Moores was looking forward to the intensity that comes with a proper competitive fixture, and believed that it would bring out the best in all of his players.

He was certainly hoping that would be the case for Harmison. "By Steve's own admission he's getting there," said Moores, "but he's looking forward to some fine-tuning in a proper first-class game. Though it was good to play everybody [at CCC] it also means you have to share it about. This time there are fewer bowlers to bowl, so it's an opportunity for everyone to show what they've got."

It will also be a good opportunity for Monty Panesar to get back into the groove. His figures took a bit of a pasting in the opening fixture, but Moores was sure that the first-class environment would be much more to his liking. "In this game there's more chance for him to bowl what I'd call a spinner's spell of 15 overs, with time to settle in, bowl your maidens, build pressure and work a batter over. He will have learned a lot from that game, and as it went on his rhythm got better and better and better. When he does click his natural attributes will be useful here, because he gets the ball to skid on as well as turn."

On the batting front England are a much more settled unit, with the top five already set in stone for the Tests. The only place up for grabs is at No. 6, where Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara have been given the chance to go head-to-head. Paul Collingwood, who played in the last series in Sri Lanka and has been in good form of late, sits out to allow the contest to unfold.

There was nothing to separate Shah (38 from 75 balls) and Bopara (40 from 71) in the opening match, and though Shah is the man in possession - having made his Test comeback in the summer - Moores admitted that Bopara's abilities with the ball would have to come into the final analysis. "I'm sure he'll get opportunities to bowl with only three seamers. He's more than just a useful medium pacer - he's got a wicket-taking ball as well."

One area where England are rather less settled than they might once have been is in the slip cordon. With Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff and now Andrew Strauss all falling by the wayside, England have found themselves scrabbling around for replacements. Four chances of various difficulty went begging in the opening fixture, and Moores admitted that it was an area of concern.

"We've not got millions of [slip catchers], but I think we've identified those than can and those that can't. The harsher the conditions or the better the opposition, the more important the catches, so we're working very hard to make sure that all the chances that come we take." The same, one presumes, will go for each of the men with points to prove in this match.

England XI 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Owais Shah, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Steve Harmison, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar