Alec Stewart has tipped Steve Harmison to display his most ferocious form during the imminent Ashes series, which commences in Cardiff on Wednesday.

Alec Stewart has tipped Steve Harmison to display his most ferocious form during the imminent Ashes series, which commences in Cardiff on Wednesday.

The fast bowler has struggled in the last 18 months to regain the confidence, which was so important in steering his country to a memorable victory in the summer of 2005, but has bounced back into contention and Stewart is convinced that the Durham merchant of menace can make a huge impression against the Australians.

"On his day, Steve is the best fast bowler in the world and he has demonstrated his intent during the ongoing England Lions match against the Australians, which has to be terrific news for the England camp," said Stewart, during an exclusive interview with the Herald yesterday.

"With him, it is all about settling into a rhythm and building up speed, and I think he could be a major influence in the Ashes battle. We know that he has had problems in the last couple of years, but he has worked hard at Durham, and I was surprised that he wasn't named in England's original squad.

"But if there is any help in the wicket for him, he has the ability to trouble any batsman, and with him and Andrew Flintoff both taking wickets and hitting the 90mph mark, as well as people like James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom in the mix, there is no reason why the English boys can't throw down the gauntlet when the action kicks off in Cardiff."

As somebody who amassed 133 Test caps, averaging nearly 40 in the process, as well as both captaining and wicketkeeping for his homeland during an illustrious career, Stewart is understandably optimistic about the prospects for Andrew Strauss' men, not least because there will be no Shane Warne - or any other Australian spinner of serious repute - capable of weaving their magic and confounding the English line-up.

"Of course, it will help the home side that there is no Warne - the man was a genius and it was always going to be almost impossible to replace him, which makes me think that the Aussies might even go into the first Test without any full-time spinner in their team," said the 46 year-old, while fulfilling a range of commitments with power.

"Basically, you have to pick an attack to get you 20 wickets and, looking at the options available to them. They have Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus and my own view is that they will pick four pace bowlers for Cardiff and rely on men such as Michael Clarke and Simon Katich to serve up a few overs of spin and try to keep things tight.

"That might not be a weakness over the course of the series but if England can hit the ground running, and get the country behind them, that sort of momentum could be hard to stop.

"It's a pity that Andy Murray did not go all the way at Wimbledon, because you saw how his exploits lifted the nation, and brought back a feel-good factor, where people were talking about him at work, in the shops and in the pub.

"Also, we shouldn't expect this Ashes contest to be as thrilling as the one in 2005 - which was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Stewart takes the hosts to win by the odd Test, which is perhaps being over-cautious. But, there again, he knows how much that little urn means to the Australians.