IT doesn't seem that long ago since a joke was doing the rounds that Stephen Harmison's website could be accessed on www.www. Now the wides have vanished from his repertoire and he's the world's top-ranked bowler, which was rightly celebrated at Durham's Player of the Year awards dinner this week.

It could also be joked that Durham's end-of-season dinner should have been held in July, especially as it was at the end of that month that Player of the Year Mark Davies was injured and didn't play again.

Harmison, Paul Collingwood and Davies provided much to celebrate, now Durham have to find a way to convert more of the promising talent they have talked about for years into first division players. Watching the sort of footage provided at the dinner by Tyne Tees Television of Harmison and Collingwood in moments of triumph with England should be a great inspiration to the others.

I read an interview with the 2003 Player of the Year Gary Pratt early this season in which he was quoted as saying that Collingwood had told him he didn't realise how close he was to the England team. Perhaps he believed it, but if so it didn't do him any good because by mid-season he was dropped from the Durham team

As Durham captain, David Boon always preached the value of self-belief, but he wouldn't allow anyone to get carried away with his own self-importance. Inspiration and perspiration are what young players need, not inflated egos.

I believe Gary Pratt will return next year a better player, and just as I had bad vibes about this season largely because of the dodgy characters signed as overseas players I already have good ones about 2005. Roll on next April.

AS I plunge into deep mourning at the end of the cricket season, it is the Ryder Cup to which I will turn to raise my spirits rather than the ICC Champions Trophy. The latter may be about to take off, but the only good thing about it so far is that it has shown the kids in the Zimbabwe team in a good light.

They obviously have talent, so the future for Zimbabwean cricket is not totally bleak, which means there is some point to England going there for six one-day internationals on their way to South Africa this winter.

They will be helping to keep the game alive in the land destroyed by Robert Mugabe, but whether it is any more morally defensible or safer to go to Zimbabwe than it was during the last World Cup is doubtful.

There will be some players with deep reservations, but things are going so well for the England squad that I expect them to stick together. No-one will want to rock the boat or risk losing his place.

They can defend their decision to go by pointing to the threat from the ICC to suspend from Test cricket any country which does not comply with the agreed tour schedule. It's a messy compromise, but that's the ICC's fault and in the absence of government intervention England will have to play their part.

YES I'm excited about the Ryder Cup and I like the look of the European team, although a little too much hinges on Monty. Bernhard Langer has told his team to expect the worst in terms of ill-mannered behaviour from the American fans and there are bound to be some determined to get under Monty's skin.

He's already had enough trouble in the last six months, so how he reacts could be crucial to the outcome. In the last Ryder Cup Monty played the golf of his life to inspire the team to a thrilling victory and they'll be looking for something similar from him again.

At the time of writing I don't know Langer's pairings, but I hope he sends out the rookies Luke Donald and Paul Casey together.

They gelled superbly in the 1999 Walker Cup and Donald had an excellent record in his two outings in the amateur event. Both were also used to beating Americans in their college days.

On the first morning I'd also send out the Spaniards, Garcia and Jimenez, together, plus Clarke and Westwood and Monty with Thomas Levet in marginal preference to Harrington, who might need to protect a dodgy shoulder.

Ian Poulter could be the weak link. The team ethic is all-important and might not be fully embraced by someone so keen to draw attention to himself, but I hope he proves me wrong and sinks a winning ten-foot putt in the decisive singles.

TIM Henman was 30 a couple of weeks ago and isn't going to improve any more, whereas Roger Federer at 23 just keeps getting better and better, as he showed in his US Open semi-final triumph against Henman. As we await our first Wimbledon winner since Fred Perry in 1934, it's time to look for a younger man and attention will turn to Andrew Murray, a survivor of the Dunblane massacre, after his US Open junior triumph. Apparently he has real ambition, so let's hope he can handle the pressure of high expectation.

Published: 17/09/2004