Harmison heeds advice

Unhappy that his efforts were sometimes being overlooked by England, and dissatisfied with his performances during the two warm-up matches in Dhaka, Harmison has sought guidance from those whose knowledge he respects in an attempt to establish himself as a Test-class fast bowler.

Discussions with England coach Duncan Fletcher, his assistant Mike Watkinson and former England seamer Angus Fraser reaped rewards with Harmison producing a stunning display on an opening day reduced to 15 overs by rain and bad light.

The pace and bounce the Durham fast bowler generated resulted in two of the leading Bangladesh batsmen falling and almost certainly contributed to them accepting the offer of bad light with eight overs remaining, despite the glare of the four floodlights.

It was an impressive start to a winter during which Harmison expects to establish himself as England's leading spearhead.

He also intends to claim his first Test five-wicket haul after twice claiming four in an innings, most recently in the final Test victory over South Africa at the Oval.

''I've hit my rhythm at the right time,'' explained Harmison.

''I wasn't happy with the way I bowled in the second innings of the last game so I worked on a few things and spoke to a few people and I feel everything's gone well in the last 20 overs that I've bowled.

''I've had a chat with Mike Watkinson, Duncan Fletcher and some senior players and took in a bit of advice from everybody and worked out my game and how my game should be played at this level.

''I've not made any changes, I just thought about where I should be putting the ball and putting it altogether in one package rather than running up and trying to hit the deck as hard as I can.''

Granted the new ball with Matthew Hoggard after Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat, Harmison's initial burst lasted less than 20 minutes before torrential rain halted play after only four overs.

That brief but spectacular downpour saturated the outfield to such an extent it was a further six hours before play re-started.

During that time Harmison sharpened his competitive instincts by taking on captain Michael Vaughan in a Tiger Woods golf computer game.

Denied victory in that event when Vaughan received a phone call with scores level, Harmison took out his frustration on the Bangladesh batsmen.

He struck in his second over after the restart with a fiercely-lifting delivery which looped off the shoulder of Javed Omar's bat to Rikki Clarke in the gully.

He could have had a second victim three balls later after Hannan Sarkar shouldered arms to a full-length delivery which nipped back and hit him on the pads.

But umpire Asoka de Silva disagreed with England's loud appeals.

Harmison claimed his second victim four overs later when Habibul Bashar attempted to cut another delivery which bounced unexpectedly and found the safe hands of Marcus Trescothick at first slip.

Before he could make a further breakthrough, the Bangladesh batsmen readily accepted the offer of bad light in the next over struggling on 24 for two.

His display certainly backed England's judgement in giving Harmison the responsibility, as one of only two seamers alongside Hoggard, to accommodate the selection of two spinners in Gareth Batty and Ashley Giles.

''I'm looking on this tour as a learning experience - I think I'll benefit from playing out here,'' said Harmison, who is 25 tomorrow.

''I was a better bowler when I came back from Australia, I hit better areas last summer and I think this is going to develop my game and I'm looking on it as a challenge.

''I think the pitch had a bit in it for me. It bounced a bit and had that little bit of bounce that my height is going to exploit and I felt that I did that.

''For the first wicket the ball just bounced at the batsman and the second wicket was just a decent length ball which bounced that bit more and caught the edge.'