Steve Harmison

Steve Harmison Biography

Stephen James Harmison is a former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for England between 2002 to 2009 before announcing his retirement in 2009.

He was born 23rd October 1978 in Ashington, Northumberland, England. Harmison was a right arm fast bowler.

After announcing his retirement, Harmison managed Ashington, a ninth-tier English football club between 2015 and 2017.

Background

He made it to the England squad in 2000 after making his first-class debut at the age of 18 in 1996 for Durham. He made his List A debut two years later.

As part of an ECB National Academy touring team, he showcased his ability and impressed in the tour of Australia in 2001–02 along with players like Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, and Robert Key.

Debut

Harmison was first selected for the England squad in May 2000 during the Zimbabwe tour of England but failed to feature in any match.

Harmison made his Test debut at Nottingham against India in 2002, replacing the injured Simon Jones. He scalped 5 wickets in the match.

He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka when he finished with figures of 2/39 with Kumar Sangakkara being his first ODI victim.

Rise to Glory

After impressing in the tour of Australia, he made it into the 2003 World Cup for England but failed to take the field in a single game.

He won the man of the match award in his first test against Bangladesh for his 9 wickets while giving away just 79 runs on a slow track.

He was the main reason behind the West Indies recording their lowest ever score of 47, as he finished with figures of 7/12 at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

He went onto take 23 wickets in that series and was adjudged the man of the series.

In the next tour against West Indies, Brian Lara went as far as suggesting that England had no plan B after Harmison.

In 2004, Harmison took 67 Test wickets in 13 matches, at an average of 23.92. Harmison's bowling performance after West Indies took him to the top of the ICC ratings.

In 2005, he was still named as one of five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack.

Low Points

He was inconsistent in his bowling and in the opening match of 2006 Ashes he bowled straight to second slip, a wide that media commentators dubbed as "the worst ball in history".

He announced his retirement from ODIs as early as 2006 before coming out of retirement in 2008 but was never a permanent fixture in the ODI squad.

He suffered from clinical depression from an early age but hid it as homesickness throughout his international career.

Club Career

The first club that he played for was Durham, a first-class county club from 1996 for whom he played for 16 seasons till 2013. In 2007, he played for Highveld Lions of South Africa. He moved to Yorkshire on loan in 2012.

Retirement

He retired from ODIs in 2006 before coming back in 2008. He made his last T20I appearance against the Sri Lankan side which played their first ever T2oI match where he failed to pick any wicket as his team lost by 2 runs.

His last ODI was the series decider against West Indies on 3rd April 2009 when he gave away 17 runs in 3 overs without getting any wicket as England won comfortably by 26 runs.

His final test was again a series decider, this time against Australia in 20th August 2009 when England won by 197 runs as he picked up three wickets in his final innings.

He announced his retirement on his own terms from all forms of games on 6 October 2013 after 4 years without featuring in any International cricket.