Genuinely fast English bowlers are rare indeed and so it stands to reason that match-winning spells by genuinely fast English bowlers are rarer still. In the past 30 years three such stand out: Bob Willis tearing down the hill at Headingley to reduce Australia to rubble in 1981; Devon Malcolm, the “you guys are history” man, blowing South Africa away at the Oval in 1994, and the most recent of them all, Stephen Harmison's demolition of West Indies at Sabina Park here five years ago.

For anyone who had borne the brunt of the West Indies war machine it was an astonishing day to be at Sabina, almost as if the wheel had come full circle. There were only 88 minutes between Harmison dismissing Chris Gayle and the last man Fidel Edwards, and in between he sent five more packing. His final figures were seven for 12; West Indies 47 all out, the lowest total in their history. It was the start of England's charge towards the Ashes as it must be on Wednesday.

Steaming in from the George Headley Stand end that day, Harmison mined the richest of seams. It was as if, as Mike Selvey wrote memorably at the time, “the body snatchers had invaded him with [Curtly] Ambrose's spirit”. Locating an awkward length and a tight line he found the Sabina pitch the most receptive of companions and he bowled at times to eight men in an arc between wicketkeeper and gully. Trampoline bounce accounted for most of his wickets, among them three batsmen who form the core of the present West Indies team, Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. England must hope that the scars remain.

As he prepares to revisit the scene of his greatest performance, Harmison says the memory of that day is hazy. “I don't remember much about it and, in any case, this is a totally different game, a different set of circumstances,” he said. “I enjoy playing at places where I do well, like Old Trafford, but I don't check out the calendar to see when I'm playing there. I'm not one for looking at the tapes but of course I'm looking forward to going back there.”

Does he really not remember that much about it? It was not an entirely surprising answer, for Harmison has always given the impression of someone who is intimidated by his own talent, someone who does not quite believe that he was once the best fast bowler in the world. But he was, and that day he was Wellington, Sabina his Waterloo. Unbeatable.

He might find looking at the tapes profitable because technically he was at his best then. He ran in hard and straight, stayed tall at the crease - arms reaching for the heavens as if in worship - held a firm rather than floppy wrist behind the ball and followed through with purpose.

Inevitably, being five years older, his body is a different shape now, less lean and more bulky. He insists, though, that he is in good physical touch, better certainly than India when he was not, in his own words, “fit enough”. Technically, he looks less certain than five years ago, too: his run-up is more laboured, his arm past the perpendicular at times, so that the ball spears down the leg side too often, and the arm is slower in delivery. A loss of pace is inevitable over time, but it needs to be compensated with something else, greater accuracy perhaps, or nous.

In St Kitts, the 30-year-old was still the most dangerous of a mundane-looking England attack and he will surely play on Wednesday. But watching him in the first Test of any series is a nerve-jangling experience - rather like watching a blind man jay-walk across Spaghetti Junction. You fear something awful might happen. It is worth remembering that his finest hour five years ago came on the back of a first-innings performance when he was accused of wasting the new ball. Harmison, the man who hates touring but will audition for the IPL, has always been a mass of contradictions.

He admits to frustrations. “I just can't put my finger on it,” he said. “Sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn't. But I feel I'm more consistent, less wild than I was. All I can say is that I try my nuts off every time I go out there. I love playing for England and people don't seem to understand that. I can't tell you how much it means to me.”

Sportsmen often fall into the trap of watching videos of themselves when things are going badly rather than when things have gone well. Get the video out, Steve, and jig that memory. Geoff Miller, the national selector, has said that he regrets that the reign of Kevin Pietersen as England captain was so short-lived. Pietersen and Peter Moores, the head coach, lost their jobs after a power struggle and while Miller believes that Andrew Strauss will lift the team against West Indies, he said: “Difficult decisions had to be made and if I'd made decisions, I might have done things slightly differently, but generally it had to be done the way it was. It had to be done quickly, too. The turbulence was there and decisions were made as well as possible.”

- Geoff Miller, the national selector, has said that he regrets that the reign of Kevin Pietersen as England captain was so short-lived. Pietersen and Peter Moores, the head coach, lost their jobs after a power struggle and while Miller believes that Andrew Strauss will lift the team against West Indies, he said: “Difficult decisions had to be made and if I’d made decisions, I might have done things slightly differently, but generally it had to be done the way it was. It had to be done quickly, too. The turbulence was there and decisions were made as well as possible.”