Former England captain Michael Atherton will be at Riverside today in his role as media pundit. Chief Sports Writer Steven Baker caught up with him, and he was only too happy to talk about the Ashington Express, Steve Harmison.

MIKE ATHERTON let out a hearty laugh as the subject of Steve Harmison, or rather Ian Botham's sky-high regard for the Ashington Express, was brought up.

"Beefy loves Steve Harmison," Atherton chuckled as he recalled the unflinching and long-term support shown by Botham towards the Durham paceman.

So, does former England captain Atherton's reaction betray a belief that Harmison is out of his depth at Test level?

Not at all. As he prepares for the first Test on his own ground, Harmison can count Atherton among his ever-growing band of backers.

Perhaps Atherton, now a respected TV commentator and newspaper journalist, can see similarities between Harmison and a raw Devon Malcolm.

Both possess that most precious of cricketing qualities - explosive pace - but just as Malcolm's radar often failed, so Harmison can be as wild as he is quick.

Nevertheless, Atherton is adamant that England have in Harmison a rough diamond that should be cherished.

He said: "Ian Botham has obviously seen something in Steve Harmison that excites him.

"But to be fair, those of us who have played Test cricket can see he has all the ingredients to make a successful bowler.

"He's still young and not particularly experienced, and when you bear that in mind I think he did pretty well in the winter.

"I think he came back to England a better bowler than when he left. He had some problems with his run-up and action, but I'm a Steve Harmison fan.

"He's got pace and bounce, and those are two crucial aspects in Test cricket."

Atherton acknowledges that England should complete a 2-0 series win with plenty to spare at Durham after they crushed an anaemic Zimbabwe team at Lord's.

Even though the absence of Matthew Hoggard means England will be fielding arguably their most inexperienced seam attack ever, they should still be far too strong for Heath Streak's men.

Whether this fixture gives England an opportunity to make much progress along the road that they hope will end with them winning back the Ashes in 2005 is a moot point.

But Atherton believes Nasser Hussain's team can lay claim to being the strongest nation outside of Australia if they beat South Africa in the five-Test series that begins next month.

He said: "We've been ultra-competitive against everybody bar Australia for about 15 years.

"England have mainly been involved in good, close series for a long time, except in the Ashes.

"We haven't got any closer to beating Australia - they're ahead of everybody, and England are in a chasing pack with India, Pakistan and South Africa.

"They're all much of a muchness behind Australia, and the longer you go without winning the Ashes the more people will talk about it.

"But you can see from the one-day squad that England picked last week that they're looking to get a blueprint for the future.

"They're looking at those players to be the nucleus of a team for the next World Cup. That's the right way to go about it.

"Zimbabwe aren't a particularly good team, but you can only beat what you're up against and England gave a pretty good performance at Lord's."

Atherton will arrive at the Riverside today full of admiration for Durham's progress since they first made public their aim to host Test matches.

Only the cold-hearted would wish Bill Midgley and Co anything but the best as they embark on arguably the biggest day in North-East summer sporting history.

As a Lancashire player throughout the 1990s and up to his retirement in 2001, Atherton has witnessed Durham emerge as a cricketing force to be reckoned with, at least off the field.

He believes more than a decade of graft, culminating in this grand occasion, merits Chester-le-Street's inclusion on the Test circuit.

Atherton said: "I think the Riverside is a fabulous ground. People have done really well there and worked really hard.

"I played at a number of grounds all over Durham. We played at Darlington and Gateshead, and then I had a couple of games at the Riverside.

"But now the Riverside is up and running, it's great to see how well they've done so soon. They thoroughly deserve the Test match."

* Mike Atherton will be signing copies of his autobiography, Opening Up, in the club shop at the Riverside during the lunch interval on Saturday.