Scott Wilson
North-East trio between a Rock and a hard place
IT HAS been another black
week for three of the North-
East's biggest stars, and the
rest of the country is on the
look-out for a scapegoat.
Personally, I blame Northern
Rock.
Remember that poster celebrating
the bank's sponsorship
of England's three most
famous number tens?
Jonny Wilkinson, Steve
Harmison, Michael Owen - all
based in the North-East, all
bloody hopeless from the
minute Northern Rock got its
claws into them.
As the events of the last six
months have proved,
Northern Rock should have
nothing at all do with number
tens. The inhabitant of
Britain's most famous number
ten nationalised the company
for goodness sake, so we probably
shouldn't be too surprised
that the Curse of the
Rock' has struck our sporting
number tens as well.
The effects have been dramatic
and, from Murrayfield
to Merseyside via four humiliating
overs in Hamilton, the
consequences became awfully
apparent last weekend.
Harmison appears to have
been most affected. Formerly,
the number one fast bowler in
the world and a member of
England's celebrated Asheswinning
squad of 2005, the
Durham pace bowler was
reduced to the role of spectator
as Michael Vaughan's side
imploded in the first Test
against New
Zealand.
The 29-year-old
bowled just four
overs in New
Zealand's second
innings, a reflection
of Vaughan's
complete lack of
faith in him following
an insipid
first-innings display
in which the
Ashington
Express' failed to
keep pace with
Ryan Sidebottom,
a bowler who
could justifiably
be nicknamed the
Tousled-haired
Trundler'.
Harmison, who was subsequently
dropped for the ongoing
second Test, looked like a
player who would rather have
been anywhere else in the
world than New Zealand as he
posted figures of 1-121, and he
effectively admitted as much
in the wake of England's 189-
run defeat when he talked of
his mind being elsewhere as
he was running in to bowl.
The North-Easterner has
suffered from homesickness in
the past, but this appears to
be a much deeper malaise. It
doesn't sound like a nagging
desire to return to his new
son, Charlie - it sounds like a
growing determination to
climb off the international
treadmill entirely.
If that really is how
Harmison feels, then England
would be better off without
him. He has flattered to
deceive in Test cricket since
the end of 2005's Ashes celebrations,
and by remaining in
Northumberland rather than
travelling to South Africa or
New Zealand to warm up for
the current tour, he betrayed a
lack of motivation that is
anathema to success in Test
cricket.
You get the impression that
if the ECB offered to extend
Harmison's spell out of the
England side until the end of
the summer, he wouldn't
exactly complain. And you
can bet your bottom dollar
that Durham would also be
over the moon with such an
arrangement.
Wilkinson's situation is different,
because whatever else
his game lacks at the moment,
you could never accuse
Newcastle Falcons' leading
fly-half of failing to give 100
per cent commitment to his
country.
His performance in
Saturday's abject defeat to
Scotland was unquestionably
one of his worst in an
England jersey but, if anything,
he was trying too hard
to rediscover the form that
once made him the foremost
fly-half in the world.
His game management was
dreadful, although Brian
Ashton must share much of
the blame for that, having
instructed England to produce
a one-dimensional kicking
game that literally played
straight into Scottish hands,
and his execution of skills
that should have been routine
smacked of a very un-
Wilkinson like loss of control.
He has paid with his place
after Ashton left him out of
the starting line-up for
Saturday's final Six Nations
game against Ireland, the first
time Wilkinson has been
dropped for an international
since the 1999 World Cup
quarter-final defeat to South
Africa. In some ways, the 28-
year-old can count himself
unlucky as plenty of other
players also under-performed
in Edinburgh yet still retained
their place - Lesley Vainikolo
anyone? - but Wilkinson's latest
sub-standard display merely
maintained a downward
trajectory that began more
than two seasons ago.
He remains a valuable asset
on the Guinness Premiership
stage, even though he has
been unable to transform a
mediocre Newcastle Falcons
campaign that hastened John
Fletcher's departure on
Tuesday.
But he is beginning to
appear worryingly one-dimensional
on the international
stage when compared with the
likes of Danny Cipriani.
Perhaps a spell out of the side
will enable him to rediscover
his spark.
Owen would no doubt love
to disappear from the firing
line as well at the moment,
given his inability to reverse a
decline that could yet result in
Newcastle United's relegation
from the Premier League, but
with nine games of the season
remaining, he will have to suffer
a little while longer.
Like Harmison
and Wilkinson,
the 28-year-old's
best international
days look to be
behind him, but
unlike his fellow
England stars, he
cannot console
himself in the
comfort of his
club environment.
While Durham
and the Falcons
can help to rehabilitate
their leading
lights,
Newcastle United
are undoubtedly
contributing to
Owen's humiliating
fall from grace.
Perhaps the striker would
still be a goal threat in a successful
side? Perhaps he has
lost his pace to such an extent
that he will never recreate his
glory days in a Liverpool and
England shirt?
Opinion is divided, but one
thing is certain. For as long as
he plays in the current
Newcastle side, his career will
continue to head downwards.
He has looked like a footballer
who has fallen out of
love with football for a while
now. Has he already embarked
on a gradual drift towards
retirement, or is there life in
the old dog yet? The same
question can be asked of
Harmison and Wilkinson.
Three different personalities,
three similar scenarios.
National institutions once
revered, now struggling to
regain former glories. Very
much like a certain North-
Eastern bank.
11:21am Thursday 13th March 2008
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
