With England likely to remain unchanged when the npower Test series continues on Friday, the promotion of Chris Tremlett into the 12-man squad is not quite as interesting as the failure of Stephen Harmison to win that place. If Harmison is judged superfluous at Old Trafford against a New Zealand team deemed vulnerable against the short ball, when can he hope to figure again?

In four Test appearances at the ground, Harmison has taken 24 wickets at an average of 19.83, against an overall mean of 31.39. In 2006 he returned match figures of 11 for 76 against Pakistan. England are expecting another pitch with pace and bounce, yet they have decided not to unleash the bowler for whom that surface ought to be tailor-made.

Harmison, who is centrally contracted, ranks seventh at best in the line of England pace bowlers, behind Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Matthew Hoggard and Tremlett. Even this may be overestimating Harmison's status because Graham Onions, his Durham colleague, may also be in front of him.

Onions is the leading first-class wicket-taker in the country with 22 victims at 21.31 apiece. The records of Tremlett (12 at 23.08 from 101 overs) and Harmison (11 at 22.90 from 101.2) are barely distinguishable, but Tremlett will join the squad today, having tested his back in Hampshire Hawks' Friends Provident Trophy match against Worcestershire Royals last night.

Geoff Miller, the national selector, has told Harmison, 29, what is required to earn a recall. He needs to bowl with confidence, at 90mph and to take wickets. Michael Vaughan, the captain, suggested on Monday that a couple of five-fers would also help. In other words, he needs to get back to being the bowler once christened “Grievous Bodily Harmison” by a tabloid newspaper.

When Pakistan visited Manchester two years ago, Bob Woolmer, their coach at the time, was so concerned at the potential impact of Harmison that he bought a slab of marble-topped granite to use as a net surface, reproducing the steepling bounce that he expected from the middle. Even last year, at the same ground, Harmison took six wickets against West Indies.

However, with Miller and his colleagues pledging consistency in selection, a place has to become vacant. Tremlett owes his call to Hoggard's broken thumb and Hoggard, in turn, was named in the 12 for the first Test at Lord's because of Flintoff's strained side.

Peter Moores, the head coach, said that intelligence received suggests that Harmison is “going OK” at Durham. But there was nothing in the words of Moores yesterday to suggest that a return is imminent. “We just feel at the moment that he needs time in county cricket to bowl, get himself sorted out and be in the right place to play for England again,” he said. “He is a mature performer who is always going to be talked about. I think he is doing all right, working it through and maybe not fully hitting his straps. That may be a process to go through to get his confidence up and be happy.“He knows when he is bowling well. He has been around, he was very disappointed at being left out in New Zealand, but realistically he knew he was not bowling as well as he could.”

Moores said that the decision to call up Tremlett represented a logical step from his involvement in New Zealand, where his tour was curtailed by a side problem. Tremlett made an encouraging start in the Test series against India last summer with 13 wickets in three matches and Moores believes that a new training programme will help to end a run of serious injuries.

One issue that has been put to bed is the future of Vaughan. His hundred at Lord's has removed any question of his ability to lead England for the foreseeable future, which, according to Moores, could stretch beyond the Ashes next year. “As players mature, batsmen especially, they tend to have their best time towards the last third of their careers,” Moores said.

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