Harmison flattens Australia

This has been stuff beyond the wildest imagination of even the dreamiest of English fans. The Ashes have started off exactly on the same note as the first official game of the summer, the Twenty20 game at the Rose Bowl, with the Aussies shell-shocked into submission. Then it was mostly hara-kiri; today it was brutal blows inflicted by Steve Harmison, who is already living up to his reputation. I have missed most of Harmison's career having lived in the US most of the last three years and I have to go back to a fiery spell by Andy Caddick against the West Indies (at Lord's, I think) to recall a similarly intimidating spell in a test match. He really softened up the Aussie batting today and cleverly mopped up the tail with a mixture of short and well pitched up deliveries. Over to McGrath, Lee and co then - but they only have 190 to defend. The sun has just broken out, and that perhaps is a sign of things to come. Of course, this series may still come down to one factor - the Warne factor. Without runs on the board though, it may be too much of a challenge for even the two best bowlers in the world. - NK