Harmison form slump 'not a worry'

Harmison was 12th man for England against West Indies

Steve Harmison will be at the top of his form by the time the Ashes begin at the end of November, England bowling coach Kevin Shine has insisted.

The Durham fast bowler struggled with his rhythm in the ICC Champions Trophy in India and was dropped for the game against West Indies.

"I'm completely confident that come the first Test on 23 November in Australia, Steve will perform.

"He's the best bowler in the world," Shine told the Mail on Sunday.

"On form, he's a frightening proposition. Test match cricket is completely different from one-day cricket."

England arrive home on Sunday for a brief rest before heading out to Australia on 3 November.

Their first game of the Ashes tour is against a Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on 10 November.

Shine said England were building Harmison up to hit peak form for the Test series.

"I know how much Steve is looking forward to the Ashes," said Shine.

"Harmison bowls at 90mph. We need to look after him. He's a proven, nailed-on match winner. When you get fast bowlers like that, you've got to look after them."

England coach Duncan Fletcher said it was a hard decision to leave Harmison out of the final one-dayer.

"We don't take it lightly, we just felt he seemed to have lost his confidence and we probably needed Jon Lewis to tighten things up a bit," said Fletcher.

"He knows he bowls a lot better in the Test matches, we have got warm-up games in Australia, he goes into the tour a lot fitter for being here and it is now important he gets some overs in because he is a very dangerous bowler in Test cricket."