Harmison slowly getting back to his best

If these last two Tests really have seen the second coming of Harmison in his 2004 vintage, it will be a considerable consolation prize for England whatever the result of this final match in Galle. The past 12 months, which started with that ball in Brisbane and have gone on to see his future as an international bowler in doubt, can be consigned to an uncertain past.

It is, of course, early days and Harmison will have to do more than take three wickets at Colombo and three out of the four yesterday that saw England go into the second day with their noses in front if he is to have overcome his demons.

But conditions here are about as tough as it gets for fast bowlers and he has shown immense heart to take wickets late in the day when he could easily have wilted and blamed the pitch and the heat.

Certainly, the contrast in Harmison's body language from Kandy to Galle is immense. He had a simple explanation after taking the two wickets in the last truncated session that rescued England's day following Michael Vaughan's decision to insert Sri Lanka.

He has decided to be happy. "I've come to the conclusion that it is better to smile rather than let things get on top of me," said Harmison. "I am going to enjoy my cricket from now on and stop beating myself up. I've always tried to go out there and do my best for England but in the last year that has not been good enough. But now I feel I'm getting better and better.

"This will be only the fourth first-class match that I've completed in the last six months — touch wood I'll finish it — and from now on I will stay positive and make the most of whatever comes my way. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen but if I get three wickets on a hot day in Galle, it will be 'brilliant, well done'."

It did seem that Harmison might not complete this match when he left the field during a demanding middle session with what looked like another back spasm. That is the injury which struck in the warm-up games here and led to him being left out of that Kandy Test. Fortunately, it was nothing of the sort.

"I was just knackered and needed to get off,' said Harmison. Let's hope the match referee turns a blind eye to his admirable candour — although all teams bend the rules, bowlers are not meant to leave the field unless they need running repairs.

"That middle session was as tough as I've known it in Test cricket,' he continued. 'The pitch did less than I anticipated and when it did do something this morning it did it big, so if the batsmen were playing down the line, they were never going to hit it. Since lunch it hasn't done as much so we have to be happy.

"With the rain we've had here, the amount of time the wicket has been under the covers and how damp it was when we started, we then had three quick bowlers with a brand new Kookaburra in their hands after the captain has won the toss and bowled. So what happens? You start clapping your hands and thinking wickets, but sometimes it can go the other way. We bowled full in the first session but we floated it up, so we had a chat at lunchtime and decided to hit the deck a bit more. It was tough going but it paid off after tea."

Harmison was the calmest man at the Galle International Stadium when Kumar Sangakkara inexplicably pulled the first ball of the second over after tea straight down Monty Panesar's throat at deep square leg.

"When you're a bit stiff, the best thing to do is bowl a short ball and that's all it was," said Harmison. "I was always confident Monty was going to catch it with those big buckets of his. He didn't have to move that much and he was standing under it a long time but it was great when he swallowed it up."

Chamara Silva followed when Harmison produced a perfect ball that took his edge but Harmison admitted the umpires could easily have taken the batsmen off for bad light by then.

"Sri Lanka could count themselves unlucky because it was quite dark but we're not complaining," added Harmison.

"After all the build-up and the history of this occasion, this match had to be played and we've enjoyed it."

How refreshing that is, coming from a man who has been such a tortured soul for so much of the time in recent years.