Harris all set to become Australia's 413th Test cricketer

Melbourne, Mar 9 : Fast bowler Ryan Harris is all set to become Australia’s 413th Test cricketer as a reward for his spectacular ODI performance late summer.

Rejuvenated Harris, 30, is poised to make his Test debut in New Zealand next week as a replacement for the injured Peter Siddle.

Australia will today name a squad for Tests in Wellington (March 19-23) and Hamilton (March 27-31) and Harris’s short-game form will be irresistible to a selection panel that is running out of time to experiment before next summer’s Ashes series.

Harris’s athleticism in the field and his robust power-hitting make him an attractive option in all forms of the game and his ability to swing the ball at more than 140km/h has made him a dominant force in one-day cricket for Australia.

Since being recalled to the national side for a one-dayer against Pakistan in Adelaide in January, Harris has taken 25 wickets in nine matches, The Herald Sun reports.

There is no reason his methods cannot work in Test cricket and former Test fast bowler Carl Rackemann has tipped him to succeed in the five-day game.

“I think he can be a real force in the Ashes. He has the best wrist position of any bowler in Australia at the moment. He is a seriously good bowler,” Rackemann said.

If, as expected, Harris is chosen in the Test team, he will become Australia''s 12th Test debutant in 17 months.