Steve Harmison

Stephen James Harmison MBE (born 23 October 1978, Ashington, Northumberland) is an England cricketer, and a leading Test match fast bowler. He plays county cricket for Durham. With his height (6'5") he can extract pace and bounce from most pitches.

Harmison was first selected for an England squad in May 2000 during the tour to England by Zimbabwe, but was not played. As part of an ECB National Academy touring team that also contained Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Robert Key, Harmison showed clear signs of his ability in the tour of Australia in 2001/2002. In August of 2002, Harmison made his Test match debut at Trent Bridge against India, replacing the injured Simon Jones.

Originally lacking somewhat in control, he bowled seven consecutive wides in the first match of the tour of Australia, against the ACB Chairman's XI's at Lilac Hill in 2002. However, promising performances later in the tour saw him named in the World Cup squad, although he wasn't used in any of the matches. He was then awarded with a six month central contract by the ECB, but this was not renewed in September 2003.

Despite media complaints about his ability, he was named in the England squad for the winter tour to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, partially due to injuries to other players. Harmison gave a man-of-the-match performance in the opening Test against Bangladesh, taking 9 wickets for 79 on a slow wicket, before succumbing to a back injury and missing the matches against Sri Lanka. Despite the injury, he'd done enough to be selected for the winter tour to the West Indies, and it was there he sealed his arrival, taking 7 wickets at the cost of just 12 runs as the West Indies collapsed to their lowest ever Test total of 47 all out. Harmison went on to win the Man of the Series award after taking 23 wickets in the four Tests.

With the West Indies touring England in 2004, it was expected that Harmison, who had also shone in the three-match Test series against New Zealand earlier in 2004, would again be England's lead bowler, and the West Indies captain Brian Lara went as far as suggesting that England had no plan B after Harmison. However, Harmison was outshone by spin bowler Ashley Giles for the first three Tests, before he took 9 wickets in the final Test match. In that final match, he also punished the West Indies bowling with the bat, hitting three sixes and three fours in a brief innings ending at 34 not out. Harmison's bowling performance in this match took him to the top of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Cricket Ratings. In 2004, Harmison took 67 wickets in just 13 matches, at an average of a superb 23.92.

Harmison disappointed with the ball on the 2004/05 England tour of South Africa, taking just 9 wickets in the Test series at the extremely high average of 73.22. During this series, he spoke frankly about his homesickness on foreign tours. However, his solid performances with the bat, including an innings high score of 42 in the 3rd Test, led some commentators to note, not altogether jokingly, that he was now making a case to be considered a tail all-rounder. Despite these disappointments, he was still named as one of five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack in 2005.

In summer 2005 Harmison was part of the England team that regained The Ashes from Australia. He started the series well, with a hostile opening spell in the 1st Test, and although later outshone by Flintoff and Jones, exerted pressure and claimed important wickets throughout. His most important and dazzling wicket some might say was the slower-ball yorker with which he bowled Michael Clarke. As the commentator Mark Nicholas said, 'Stephen Harmison, with a slower ball, one of the great balls. Given the batsmen, given the match, that is a staggering gamble that has paid off...' Harmison also took the final wicket of Michael Kasprowicz the next day, caught behind by Geraint Jones, to turn around an almost certain 2-0 series deficit into a tied series and with it the momentum of the series.

In July 2006, during the series against Pakistan, Harmison took 6-19 off just 13 overs in the first innings as Pakistan were skittled for just 119. In the second he again shared the 10 wickets with Monty Panesar, taking 5-57. He thus took his first 10 wicket haul in a match, taking 11-76. This came in his 45th Test match, and was the best match bowling figures at Old Trafford since Jim Laker's famous 19-90, exactly 50 years previously.

During the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy Harmison's form came under scrutiny, and he was dropped from England's final match against the West Indies.

In November 2006, Harmison bowled the first ball of the eagerly awaited 2006-07 Ashes series at The Gabba in Brisbane, but humiliatingly erred by bowling a wide straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip. His lacklustre opening spell seemed to set the tone for what proved to be a dismal first day of the series for England and for Harmison in particular. After another below par performance in Adelaide he would find some form in Perth with 4/48 in the 1st innings.

On 21 December 2006, three months before the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Harmison announced his retirement from One-Day International cricket after being left out of the squad for the one-day series in Australia.

Personal life

Stephen Harmison is married to his childhood sweetheart Hayley and they have three daughters, Emily Alice, Abbie Meg and Isabel Grace. His younger brother Ben currently plays first class cricket for Durham County Cricket Club.

In the 2006 New Year Honours List, Stephen Harmison was awarded the MBE for his role in the successful 2005 Ashes squad.

References

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