Stephen James Harmison

Profile:

Steve Harmison is one of that rare breed - a genuinely quick English bowler. Tall and gangling, he is often likened to a West Indian pace bowler in that he extracts awkward bounce at a speed that can trouble the best.

He made his debut for Durham in 1996 but, as so often happens, missed the 1997 season after suffering a severe back injury. He was back in 1998 and gained selection for the England A tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa. He made a somewhat slow start and said himself that as a rather shy, home-loving individual, it took him time to ease into his stride. However, by the end of the tour he was bowling with enough ferocity to justify a third man stationed some fifteen yards in from the boundary - in a catching position. Furthermore, he got a wicket there with a top edge.

Injury forced Harmison to miss both the subsequent two England A tours, but he was back to full fitness to enable him to spend the 2001/02 winter at the National Academy and in the summer of 2002 he gained selection for the England side against India at Trent Bridge, after being left out at the last stage of selection several times before. Obviously nervous in the first innings, he began to show his full colours in the second when he found pace and bounce in an otherwise dead pitch. He did not make the final eleven again during the summer, but the selectors had seen enough to pick him for the Ashes tour that followed in the hope that his main attributes might cause problems for the Australian batsmen in conditions that were likely to suit him.