Hero Harris hails coach for reviving career
James Harris praised Middlesex bowling coach Richard Johnson for helping him rediscover the natural rhythm that culminated in his record nine-wicket haul on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old was in inspirational form as he finished with a career-best 9-34 to lead Middlesex to a 187-run victory over Durham.
Johnson himself is the only Middlesex bowler since the war to better that performance, when he took all 10 wickets in an innings against Derbyshire in 1994, and Harris now credits him for reviving his own career.
At one point last summer Harris was sent back to former club Glamorgan on loan, having only taken 10 wickets in five County Championship matches, after unsuccessfully trying to remodel his action.
He said: “I was told if I was half a yard quicker I’d be that much closer to getting an England call-up and that’s what we went searching for.
“You could argue we probably found it but it was at the detriment to what I did naturally. I wasn’t hitting the seam and I wasn’t causing problems, which is something I’ve always done. So we made a choice to go back.
“Johnno’s been through a lot as a bowler – he had his action changed and had injuries – so to have that kind of experience around is invaluable.
“When I decided to go back to my old way of doing things, he was incredibly supportive and I thank him for that. Between him and Andy Mitchell, who I spent all winter with in the gym, we’re finally starting to get some results.”
Harris admitted there had been “dark days” while he tried to recapture the form of 2009 to 2011, when he took 153 wickets in three seasons for Glamorgan and earned his Middlesex move.
But the paceman says he feels much more comfortable having returned to his old action and believes the destruction of Durham vindicated his decision.
He added: “So far this summer I’ve been bowling quite nicely but I felt there was still something to click.
“I got into a nice rhythm and once I got Calum McLeod and Paul Collingwood [in successive balls] I thought I was on a bit of a roll and thankfully it kept coming.
“It’s a great feeling when you can just run in and know, before you’ve let it go, where it’s going to go and what it’s going to do.”
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