SOUTH Africa coach Mickey Arthur believes England have missed a trick by not selecting paceman Steve Harmison for their winter tour of the country.

The Durham bowler was left out of England’s touring party for the four-Test series, which begins at Centurion on December 16, despite playing in the final two Tests of the successful Ashes campaign.

Arthur believes Harmison’s high action and steepling bounce would have been perfectly suited to the quicker wickets in South Africa, claiming his batsmen were relieved to learn of the 31-year-old’s exclusion.

‘‘He was the one England bowler who could rough us up,’’ Arthur admitted.

‘‘If they’re trying to build a team for the next Ashes and Harmison isn’t going to be there, I can see why they’ve done it.

‘‘But a few of our batters will have seen that tour party and been pretty happy he’s not on the plane – especially with our wickets, which will have plenty of pace and bounce.

‘‘He would have been a very awkward proposition.’’ South Africa lost their most recent home series 2-1 to Australia in February, when they failed to handle quick Mitchell Johnson.

Johnson may have struggled to impose himself on the slower wickets of England during the Ashes, but he was a snarling force in South Africa where he claimed 16 wickets at an average of 25.

‘‘We saw how dangerous Mitchell Johnson was against us on both Australian and South African wickets, because his stock ball – back of a length – was getting rib high on bouncy tracks and hitting batsmen under the heart,’’ Arthur added.

‘‘In England, he wasn’t helped by the slow pitches, but Harmison could have done the same thing as Johnson out here.’’