KEY POINTS:
By the time you read this Steve Harmison will have delivered his first spell of the second Ashes test and the success of that spell will depend on what was racing through his mind as he ran in and as he got into delivery stride - or, more accurately, what was not racing through his mind.
By his own admission Harmison felt the pressure of the occasion in Brisbane. Since then the topic of conversation and slow-motion reply has been his bowling action. His run-up and position at the point of delivery have been analysed, criticised and modified in preparation for the Adelaide test. But perhaps the best course of action would be for him to be lobotomised.
When things go wrong for a good bowler the simplest and best advice anyone can give is to just run in and bowl brain dead. It's the same for an out-of-form batsman who just needs to clear the mind, stand still and watch the ball, or a golfer who should just aim and swing. It all sounds so simple, but it is difficult to do.
Sportspeople reach the top with a certain level of technical proficiency. Success is determined upon how well they can apply their technique in response to the requirements of the situation. How well they do that is where the mind comes into play. Simply put, it has the ability to utilise your technique to its fullest or destroy it, facet by facet.
Trust in your technique to get the job done equals confidence, and it the greatest mental attribute a sportsman can have; but it is a chicken-and-egg scenario. Does constant work to improve your technique give you more confidence, or can just being happy with where you are at allow you to use your current technique to its fullest. and even allow change for the better to occur naturally?
Harmison has not got a perfect technique but he has some real technical strengths. He bowls over a straight front leg with an upright body so uses his height to generate bounce and that same front leg gives him snap for hidden pace.
He's been working in the nets on retaining those attributes and by all accounts had done that.
However, the pressure of the situation stripped those attributes from him in the first test. He will feel that same pressure again in Adelaide.
The only thing that can help Harmison now is finding a way to clear his mind and immerse himself solely into competition with the opposition - not with himself. Sometimes one key technical thought can help settle the mind but if Harmison reckons he's got that thought from his nets, and pressure sees it fail, he's in big trouble again.
My advice to Steve Harmison is: Run in, bowl it as fast as you can, hurl a heap of abuse in Justin Langer's direction and enter the external competition not the internal.
