THE DROUGHT ENDS

Harmer at the heart of Essex's white-ball upturn

Poignantly, Simon Harner summoned Ravi Bopara to lift the T20 Blast trophy with him
Poignantly, Simon Harner summoned Ravi Bopara to lift the T20 Blast trophy with him ©Getty

When Simon Harmer joined Essex on a Kolpak deal ahead of the 2017 season, not many of the club's faithful had heard of him. A bit of googling would have told them that the off-spinner had played a handful of Tests for South Africa but otherwise plied his trade in his home domestic system. He was hardly a household name with no big T20 contracts or previous county experience. Now though, after three seasons, he is Chelmsford's adopted son, as Essex as Tiptree jam and Southend Pier.

With 72 wickets, he was instrumental in Essex's 2017 Championship victory in his first season, the county's first for 25 years. This year, he already has 78 victims, propelling Essex to the top of the table with one game remaining. Their second Championship title in three years will be confirmed if they avoid defeat against Somerset next week. And now, to add to his red-ball exploits, Harmer has led Essex to their first ever T20 Blast title, removing the monkey that had been on their backs since they last won a white-ball trophy in 2008. No wonder they love him in Chelmsford.

This Blast campaign has not been an easy one. Harmer is no shrinking violet, clear on what he believes and frank enough to tell people. Made T20 captain ahead of the tournament, he felt there were changes to be made in both personnel and approach if Essex were to improve their short format form. Last season they finished with just two wins from 14 group matches, continuing a trend of underachievement in limited overs cricket stretching back far too long.

They started poorly this term though, losing three of their opening five games. To add to their misery, there were four washouts in the group stages too, including three in a row. It was looking a typically bleak situation with four group games remaining. Winning the tournament was not even on the agenda at that stage. Saving face was the only priority. But then, remarkably, ridiculously, things suddenly fell into place.

Essex won three of their last four group matches - the other was a tie - and progressed to the knockout stages with help from other results going their way. They defeated a more fancied Lancashire in the quarter-finals thanks to a terrific, last-ditch partnership from Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate and then triumphed against Derbyshire and Worcestershire on Finals Day.

It has been quite a change of fortunes and Harmer, with ball and as captain, has been at the heart of it.

"There were some difficult decisions that needed to be made," Harmer, clutching a couple of bottles of beer, said after the final. "A couple of players got dropped, senior players. But it's what I felt was best for the team in order to get 11 guys on the park all pulling in the same direction.

"That was probably my toughest challenge. I want to win trophies and I'm going to do what I think is best for the team. If individuals don't think that's best for the team, that's their prerogative."

One of those dropped was Bopara. Harmer wanted him to bat at six and play as the team's finisher. Bopara wanted to bat up the order and said so. Harmer left him out for two matches to make the point that it was his way or nothing. It was not an easy time for either man but it was a clear statement. If Bopara, a club legend, could be dropped so could anyone.

"In my opinion Ravi is one of, if not the, best finishers in T20 innings," Harmer said. "So I felt we needed him to come in at six and finish games for us. It's pointless him walking in at three, getting a good ball and he's sitting in the hut. Sometimes you need to prove people wrong in order to make them believe and I think that was the case with him.

"He came back from time away from the team, he bought in 100% and he reaped the rewards. He's an incredibly talented cricketer. I can understand his frustration but hopefully even if it's not now, in 5 or 10 years down the line, he can sit back and realise he is actually best-suited to maybe five or six." Bopara finished with 278 runs at 93 in his last seven Blast innings playing that role.

Aside from Bopara's batting, Harmer's bowling was a key element to Essex's victories at Edgbaston. He picked up three wickets in the final, including the big one of Worcestershire's captain Moeen Ali, and finished up with the best figures ever recorded on Finals Day, taking seven wickets in all across both games. Harmer has not always had the best of times in limited overs cricket but here he was excellent, aided by a surface which he admitted afterwards suited his bowling perfectly.

But as much as Harmer has given Essex an extra dimension with the ball since his arrival in 2017, he has also added some hard-headed realism to a county which had laid dormant for the best part of 25 years. There have been many people responsible for the club's recent resurgence, few more so than club captain ten Doeschate, but Essex did not just sign a world-class spinner when Harmer arrived. They signed a leader too.

His influence has been significant, both on and off the pitch. He demands high standards and is not willing to hear excuses in the quest to be better. Neither is he satisfied with what Essex have done, citing areas of the club he feels still need improvement. "In my opinion, we have all the tools," Harmer said. "We have all the players. We have what you cannot buy which is the camaraderie in the dressing room.

"There's a lot of love in our dressing room for the guy next to you. In my opinion, you cannot buy that. You can bring in players, you can do what you want, but you can't buy a bond between people. So that's why I was quite vocal tonight in terms of how I want people - especially at Essex County Cricket Club - to change the mentality of a small cricket club because we don't have the money.

"It's always excuses. In my opinion, those need to go. We have the tools to be very competitive over the next five years in all three formats, but we need to start believing. As it works in cricket, when you need to chase down 300 in a 50-over game, people only start to believe when somebody scores a hundred.

"So now, with us winning this T20 trophy, I think the belief is there and the players now understand that actually we are good enough. All the noise in the background is just noise. Hopefully moving forward, we can be competitive and win more trophies."

This success puts Harmer in contention to replace ten Doeschate as captain in Championship and one-day cricket when the time comes. He certainly has the respect of the dressing room and has proven himself a calm and calculating tactician. And his man-management has produced the desired effect in this tournament, too.

After all, it was telling that Harmer and Bopara were the men at the crease at the end of the final, seeing Essex over the line. Bopara, Harmer's finisher, had done what his captain had wanted him to and he had done it expertly. When the trophy was presented, Harmer called Bopara over and they lifted it together. A truce and a decision vindicated.

And for Harmer himself, another title and yet more wickets for a club he is having a significant impact on.

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