Aussie pacer Ryan Harris likely to miss first Ashes Test due to injury, as he failed to pass a fitness test due to recurrence of his knee injury.
That ruled him out of the practice game against Essex and he was replaced with Peter Siddle. Harris has played in the first practice game against Kent and bowled 30 overs in the match. The 35 year old quick bowler had a knee surgery last year and also missed the West Indies series due to the birth of his child.
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Ryan Harris has battled his knee problem quite frequently in the past year or so. Australian coach Darren Lehmann insisted that Ryan Harris has to prove his fitness in order to be selected for the team. He said,“At the end of the day, Ryan Harris has got to be fully fit and if he’s doing that then he’s a big part of our side or squad going forward.He has got to prove to us he can bowl 20 overs in an innings or roughly about and make sure he’s ready to go. If he can do that, he certainly comes into consideration.”
If Ryan Harris does not play the first Ashes Test, Australia might go in with the combination of 3 fast bowlers in Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, with spinner Nathan Lyon giving them company. This would also mean that one of Mitchell Marsh and Shane Watson could play as an all rounder.
