Start of the season has me restless

With Australia in the UAE taking on Pakistan, fast bowler Ryan Harris will be sharing his thoughts on the series and his recovery from injury. Here's his first column for cricket.com.au

Given this weekend marks the official start of cricket season in Australia, I have to say I’m having mixed feelings because it’s been a far from typical pre-season for me.

I'm just getting back into bowling after my knee surgery, and make my return to grade cricket in Brisbane as a batsman today.

But I'll be nothing more than a spectator as my Queensland teammates begin their Matador One Day campaign across town and the members of the Test squad board a plane for the UAE for the upcoming two-match series against Pakistan.

Quick Single: Queensland v Victoria at the Gabba

As a result, I'm a bit removed from the start of the season and it's getting to me - knowing I'm not on the plane with the Test boys today is definitely killing me - so I’ve been trying not to think too much about.

Having said that, I can't not watch an Australian cricket team any time they're playing, unless it’s at 3 o'clock in the morning. And the limited-overs matches that come before the Tests will be carrying a bit of extra significance.

With the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup just the other side of the new year, every one-dayer you play is important in regards to finalising the make-up of your squad and that's probably been the case for the past year or so.

To be honest, I would think Darren Lehmann already pretty much knows the make-up of the squad he wants to take into the World Cup and it will just be a matter of making sure that everyone's fit.

Limited-overs cricket can be such a great leveller as we've seen in previous World Cups and even in the recent World T20 when the Dutch team beat England.

It showed that anyone can beat anyone in the shorter form, and we saw that again when Australia had an off day against Zimbabwe recently and they beat us because they played very well.

Those sorts of upsets don't happen so often in Test cricket, but since our great results in last summer's Ashes and then the series in South Africa we've seen a few changes to the Australian XI because of injury.

Video: Watch all 22 wickets claimed by Ryan Harris in the 2013/14 Ashes series.

It's really disappointing that Shane Watson and I will be missing from this series, partly because nobody likes to miss out on a Test match but also because we saw last summer how vital a stable line-up is team success.

I think it's a massive advantage to be taking the same group of players into a string of matches, as was the case against England and for most of the series against South Africa when we performed so well on the field.

We were very blessed that we had no injuries and having that same group, we became really close and really enjoyed each other's company which in turn created a great team harmony and a really strong bond.

We hadn't been able to do that for a long time and it's no coincidence that we played the way we did when we managed to keep a team completely intact.

If you look at the previous time England toured Australia three years earlier, they had a similar side for most of the Tests – except for Stuart Broad who they lost early – while we were chopping and changing, and they ended up beating us 3-1.

Of course, injuries also provide a chance for someone to step in and stake their claim and with Watto ruled out that opens the door for Mitch Marsh, provided he can shake off the hamstring injury he picked up in the Champions League Twenty20.

Quick Single: Injured Marsh arrives in the UAE

He's obviously the next allrounder in line and having spent some time with Mitch during the Australia A series earlier this year I can vouch for the fact he was going great guns, so he thoroughly deserves a shot at Test cricket.

Darren loves having an allrounder because it allows the quicks to have a rest and also provide support for the spinners, so his perfect team invariably includes an allrounder who can bowl those extra overs.

So I think he would be comfortable playing two spinners in the upcoming Tests provided that's what the conditions dictate, and assuming he has a front-line allrounder like Mitch Marsh available.

That's because Mitch can bowl at good pace and move the ball, so he's not a part-time bowler who bats – he's a genuine allrounder and he would add that extra element.

His progress in the short and long forms of the game also highlights the strength of Australian cricket at the moment, which is the fact there are always guys in and around the squad who are able to step in and do the job when their opportunity arises.

Video: Look back at Mitch Marsh's recent run of form during the Australian winter.

One of the new members of the limited-overs squad, Sean Abbott, is another who is rapidly showing himself to be in that same sort of genuine allrounder mould.

I've seen bits and pieces of Sean over the last couple of years, and from what I saw he had a lot of talent but he just lacked a bit of consistency.

That's because he was still barely a teenager then, which meant when he batted he tried to hit the ball not just over the fence but out of the ground, and then tried to bowl 150km/h which meant he lacked a bit of control.

I did only see him a couple of times in Darwin during the Australia A series, but prior to that when were all training at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and he was having a few net sessions he looked a totally different bowler.

He was still bowling quick, but he was consistently smacking them on a line and length and looked very good.

In addition to being a massive talent with the bat and ball he's also a rocket in the field who gets to the ball quickly and has a really strong arm.

So with a little of work he is definitely one for the future because he's another of those perfect allrounders that we need, and it's a great opportunity for Sean to go over there and be part of an Australian tour to see how it all works and hopefully he gets to play a game or two.

As for my own progress after knee surgery, I'm bowling and operating off about half my run-up with pretty good intensity, so I feel pretty good.

Video: Ryan Harris is the epitome of a gritty Australian fast bowler.

I'm just lacking rhythm but that's because I've only really been bowling for four weeks and it's only the past two weeks that I've been upping the intensity a bit, so the timing's not quite there.

I've been pulling up well after those sessions – in the first week, the old bowling pains were back which was a good thing because it meant I'd hit the crease pretty hard.

If it was up to me, I would say I'd be available for the first round of Bupa Sheffield Shield matches at the end of this month

But from the physios' point of view I think round two (starting November 8) is more realistic.

I'm pushing as much as I can without going too far, and I can tell the medical people how I'm feeling and how I'm going but they've got the best idea of how to treat me because they've been doing it for last two years and done it really well.

Especially this weekend, with everything starting, I want to be part of it and if they tell me I have to wait six weeks then I'll want to be fit and playing in three.

But if I push myself and do work outside of the program they set and then I break, well I'll be in trouble.

And I'll have even longer on the sidelines.