Leave it in Simon Harmer's hands
Simon Harmer didn't make a massive impact with the ball in Gqeberha. But without his batting and catching, SA might not have won as emphatically as they did
Simon Harmer could hold the whole wide world in his hands. That’s how it feels when you greet him, anyway. The grip is firm, the fingers as strong as they are long, the palm as vast as an airport, the shake deliberate. When your average sized hand disappears into Harmer’s massive mitt, you understand a few things.
Like how he is able to bowl off-spin to such a high level. And take stupendous catches in the cordon. Do his hands also help him wield a bat better than many frontline bowlers? Probably not.
Because it takes much more than huge hands to be the cricketer Harmer has become. It takes talent, skill, confidence, belief, backing and experience. All of which was on show in the second Test against Australia at St George’s Park, which South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs on Thursday.
First Harmer came to the crease in the wake of Temba Bavuma and Marco Jansen sharing 132 — a stand that started at 110/6. Harmer hammered a career-best 82 to put on 183 with Bavuma, which was key to South Africa’s declaration at 425/9.
Then Harmer took three catches in Australia’s reply of 99. The pick of them was a low left-handed lunging grab in the gully that no-one had any business claiming to remove Marnus Labuschagne off Anrich Nortjé.
“It’s instinctive; you either go or you don’t,” Harmer told reporters at St George’s Park on Thursday after South Africa had won. “It probably would have carried to Aiden [Markram at second slip], but when you go across like that you need to make sure that you take them.”
Seam snared all the wickets in Australia’s first innings, in which Harmer limited the damage to nine runs in his 5.3 overs. In the second dig, with the pitch not showing the expected wear and tear because more than a third of the overs that would have been bowled after four days did not materialise due to rain, Harmer dismissed Labuschagne and Beau Webster in 39 overs that went for 93. The quicks again succeeded with Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder splitting seven wickets.
Read between the lines of all that and you will see Harmer made his smallest impact on the match through his bowling; his strong suit, which earned him selection ahead of Keshav Maharaj. But make an impact he surely did. Without his batting and catching South Africa might not have won as emphatically as they did, or even not at all. That’s what quality players do — they find a way to be in the fight.
“I understood the situation; I knew what was expected of me,” Harmer said. “What puts bread on the table is wickets. I would have liked to alleviate some of the pressure on the seamers today, especially on a day-five pitch.”
Happily his bow has more than one string: “As a spinner, I love scoring runs. I feel like taking wickets is my job. I get a lot more gratification from scoring runs. So I feel like I managed to contribute. But I don’t think it was my finest performance with the ball. I’m not one for excuses, so I’ll take it on the chin: I do believe I could have bowled better.”
Harmer said the latter was also the case in the first Test at Kingsmead, where Australia won by 214 runs last Tuesday. The visitors were victorious there despite playing batters out of their customary spots. The prime example was Matt Renshaw. An opener in 20 of his 25 innings, he was deployed at No. 5 in Durban and scored 190 and 82.
“The most frustrating thing was knowing there were a couple of guys who had either come back into their Test team or were playing out of position, and we weren’t able to exploit that. To be able to do that in Gqeberha and put the pressure back onto them, to be 1-0 down and turn it around [was good]. And to realise that they are human and if we bowl well and put them under pressure there is the possibility that we can get on top of them.
“Durban was a tough few days for us. We knew we weren’t at the level we wanted to be at. I remember standing on the field and looking up at the scoreboard and seeing the boys that were on the field and being, like, ‘Geez, this is a proper team.’ Everybody felt like we let ourselves down. So there was a lot of motivation and fire burning in the belly because we didn’t put our best foot forward and that we lost not on our terms.”
That the South Africans were able to bounce back so soon and so convincingly was due in part, Harmer said, to a healthy culture in the dressing room and beyond.
“The guys spend a lot of time together away from cricket. You also spend a lot of time on the field, but everyone’s invested. It feels like everybody’s pulling in the same direction and enjoying one another’s company. It’s a really fun group to be around. There’s always a lot of laughs. Even last week when it was difficult we sat after the game telling stories and laughing.”
Besides his bowling, batting and fielding, Harmer also brought to the party the experience he earned in his 23 first-class matches at St George’s Park as an Eastern Province and Warriors player from February 2010 to April 2022.
“It’s always nice coming back to Gqeberha. The Eastern Cape is home for me, and getting off the plane and breathing in that thick sea air always puts a smile on my face.
“It’s about local knowledge: the slope here [from the Duckpond End downward to the Park Drive End], understanding what the different ends do — the bounce is probably more up and down from the Park Drive End, and there is probably more bounce from the Duckpond End — and understanding the wind.”
A case in point was Harmer’s dismissal of Labuschagne in the second innings. Facing at the Park Drive End, Labuschagne launched a shot towards long-on. On a calm day the ball might have gone for six. But the stiff westerly that blew on Thursday kept it in play long enough for Jansen to take a well-judged catch.
“The wind funnels through that corner, in the gap between the Old Stand and the Duckpond Pavilion. A lot of times you think you’ve got enough of the ball but it gets held up.”
Harmer has played only nine first-class matches at Newlands, where the series resumes for the decider on Tuesday. But you can be sure he will have a hand in South Africa’s plotting and planning. Two enormous hands, in fact.
