Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Harmison aiming to finish with a milestone
In-form Ben Harmison has targeted an explosive finish to the campaign which would help him close in on the 1,000 championship runs milestone. The 27-year-old former Durham man has made 350 runs in his last five innings and improved his season’s average to 52 – behind only Brendan Nash and Darren Stevens in the Kent rankings. The all-rounder followed-up his 96 in his previous outing at Worcestershire with 106 in the first innings to steer Kent to the brink of championship victory against Gloucestershire, only for the weather to deny them the single wicket they required on the final day on Saturday. He also bowled five overs – his first action with the ball since early July. Harmison was criticised by some supporters during Kent’s early-season struggles, however, he said: “It’s all good. I’m not fussed what people say about me because I know how good I am but it’s nice to get some runs behind me this season. “I’ve done well in the past six weeks but to be fair I’ve done well all season, right from the first knock of pre-season. It was nice to get some overs in too, which I keep pushing for. “All-in-all, it’s been a decent year so far and we have four games
left still. I want 1,000 runs (an increase of 430) which is going to be tough but it’s not impossible. That’s my biggest target.” He revealed: “I think I’ve settled in more, got some more confidence and this year I’m back bowling which always gives you a big boost. “Overall, I’m pretty happy but I can’t just sit here on it. I want to push forward next year hopefully. “I spoke to Jimmy Adams (coach) last week and I’ve got to keep raising the bar. Next year I want to keep scoring runs but I want to add some more wickets too – I’m confident I’ll do pretty well. “My biggest thing has been converting the fifties into big hundreds. Jimmy’s happy but he’s not going to pump my tyres up too much. There are four games left and I’ve got to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”