Pace ace to play first match since Cape Town
Harris to return to bowling crease
Ryan Harris the captain might have trouble convincing Ryan Harris the bowler to take a spell if Saturday’s return to the bowling crease for the Australian paceman goes to plan.
Harris will lead Premier Grade side Toombul against University of Queensland at the WEP Harris Oval and will also take the first competitive steps in his bowling comeback since undergoing surgery after the South African tour earlier this year.
The 35-year-old is roughly on track as part of the recovery schedule that was worked out by Cricket Australia and Queensland Cricket medical staff in the aftermath of the surgery.
“I’m pretty excited to be having a bowl in a game actually after getting through the net sessions okay,’’ Harris said.
“I’m only bowling a set number of balls so hopefully I can get a bit out of it.”
Harris went under the knife in March to clean out his problematic right knee joint and have bone spurs shaved following his heroic efforts in Australia’s thrilling third Test win against South Africa in Cape Town.
During that Test, Harris had 30 millimetres of fluid drained from his knee while also battled a hip flexor injury he sustained in the field.
Since the operation, Harris has spent the past seven months rehabbing and preparing his body to handle the rigours of first-class and eventually international cricket.
During his injury lay-off the fast bowler turned mentor, working as Australia A’s bowling coach during the Top End tour in the winter.
But now it’s back to bowling, and after missing the ongoing Test series against Pakistan the United Arab Emirates, the Queenslander has his sights set on India, and beyond that the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the Ashes later that year.
"A couple of years ago I busted my gut and tried to get back into the one-day team and I tried so hard when I was in there I ended up getting dropped because I tried too hard," Harris told cricket.com.au in early September.
"My main goal is the Ashes, but definitely I want to play in the World Cup.
"It's something I’m looking at, but I just want to be going well and if I'm bowling well they'll pick me. If not then they won't."
While recovering, Harris has also been working as a commentator for Channel Nine’s Wide World of Sports team during the Matador Cup and writing columns for cricket.com.au.
Read his latest column, where he discusses Australia’s bowling performance in the first Test and shares some strong thoughts on Pakistan’s tactics here.