Ben Harris’ dreams realised

Press, 31 January 1989, Page 44

Ben Harris’ dreams realised

Ben Harris was enjoying “probably the third” after-match ale at the St Albans clubrooms on Saturday evening when he received the telephone call which dramatically changed his cricket career. The caller was the Canterbury selection convener, Brian Salt, who jolted Harris out of his relaxed mood with the news he 5 was on standby to replace an indisposed Blair Hartland against Pakistan the

next day. “I went straight home, and didn’t sleep at all well,” said Harris after scoring 45 in his firstclass debut yesterday. “No kidding, Imran was there in my dreams.” On Saturday morning Mr Salt telephoned again. Hartland was out, and Harris’ heart “started racing at 160 miles an hour.” Happily for the newcomer, Canterbury fielded first, though Harris felt awestruck.

“I was playing against guys I’d only read about. There I was under the helmet looking up at Javed Miandad,” he recalled. But Harris stopped and threw brilliantly and might even have been in Imran’s dreams after running out the Pakistan captain. “Then when Imran declared unexpectedly I only had nine minutes to really worry about opening the batting,” said

Harris, aged 24. Harris could be proud of his maiden innings, more than three and a half hours resistance against 172 deliveries, “before I lost it in the forties.” And his first thought upon his dismissal? “I remembered Dad (Zin Harris, a New Zealand test batsman) made 49 against Australia in his first innings. Maybe I’ll cop it at home tonight for not doing better.”