Steve Harmison

Stephen James Harmison, (born 23 October 1978) is an English former first-class cricketer, who played all formats of the game.

Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODIs, and 2 T20s.

He also played county cricket for Durham and Yorkshire.

Harmison made his first-class debut for Durham in 1996.

Steve Harmison was first selected for an England squad in May 2000 during the tour to England by Zimbabwe, but did not play.

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 2001–02.

He made his Test and ODI debut for England in 2002, and achieved modest success in these early stages of his career, showing promise as a capable strike bowler for England.

In August 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 did not take to the field in any of the matches.

This was borne out during the tour of the West Indies in 2003–04, where he produced some of his finest bowling and went on to become the highest wicker-taker in the series.

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.

He followed it up by playing a vital role in England's victory in the 2005 Ashes series, and was selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2005.

At the time, he was regarded as one of the world's best fast bowlers.

Harmison's performance following the 2005 Ashes victory was inconsistent and he announced his retirement from ODIs in 2006.

His problems were compounded by niggling fitness worries and intense competition for a place in the English team.

A family man by nature, Harmison admitted to homesickness and missing his family each time the England team went on tour; in an interview with The Independent in 2005, he stated:

"'I have a family. I have kids that need me around and they will dictate the decisions I make on my career....My international career will finish when my family needs me to be around a bit more.'"

He still remains a huge fan of football, and is a lifelong supporter of Newcastle United F.C.

Harmison has suffered from clinical depression from an early age, but hid it as homesickness during his England career.

As a teenager, Harmison played for his local football club, Ashington A.F.C. and Ashington Hirst Progressive, before deciding to concentrate on cricket.

Harmison observed, "The [2005] Ashes takes some beating, because of the nature of that series win, but behind that, I don't think there is a prouder moment in my career.".

Durham took their second title assisted by Harmison the following year.

Harmison's success during his prime was attributed to his ability to extract bounce from any pitch – mainly due to his height being 6'4" – and his ability to swing the ball while maintaining speeds of over 90 mph. However, his lack of consistency often led to lethal spells being mixed up with equally bad bowling (a notable example is the opening ball of the 2006 Ashes, which he bowled straight to second slip, resulting in a wide that media commentators dubbed "the worst ball in history"). Nevertheless, his ability with the ball was never questioned; in 2007, former Australian cricketer Shane Warne named Harmison in his list of 50 greatest cricketers, stating: "on his day, he is one of the most awkward bowlers [to face] in the world".

Although he came out of ODI retirement in 2008, his place in the squad was never permanent, ultimately leading to his being dropped since 2009.

He played an important role in Durham's first County Championship triumph in 2008, taking 60 wickets in that season at an average of 22.66.

His last Test for England was the final test of the 2009 Ashes series, and he played his last ODI against West Indies in the same year.

He played his last first-class match during a brief loan period with Yorkshire in 2012.

He formally announced his retirement from the game in October 2013.

After retiring from cricket, Harmison managed his hometown football club, Ashington, between 2015 and 2017.

Harmison was born and brought up in Ashington, Northumberland, and is the eldest of 3 brothers and 1 sister (the youngest, Ben Harmison, who latterly played first-class cricket for Kent, and formerly played for Harmison's side, Durham.)

Harmison currently lives in Ashington with his wife Hayley and their three daughters Emily, Abbie and Isabel, and their son, Charlie.