37 Facts About Steve Harmison

1.

Steve Harmison 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.

2.

Steve Harmison 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.

3.

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

4.

Steve Harmison's problems were compounded by niggling fitness worries and intense competition for a place in the English team.

5.

Steve Harmison formally announced his retirement from the game in October 2013.

6.

Steve Harmison still remains a huge fan of football, and is a lifelong supporter of Newcastle United FC.

7.

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

8.

Steve Harmison 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.

9.

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

10.

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

11.

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

12.

Steve Harmison was then awarded with a six-month central contract by the ECB, but this was not renewed in September 2003.

13.

Steve 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.

14.

Steve Harmison went on to win the Man-of-the-Series award after taking 23 wickets in the four Tests.

15.

However, Steve Harmison was outshone by spin bowler Ashley Giles for the first three Tests, before he took 9 wickets in the final Test match.

16.

In 2004, Steve Harmison took 67 wickets in just 13 matches, at a superb average of 23.92.

17.

In summer 2005 Steve Harmison was part of the England team that regained The Ashes from Australia.

18.

Steve Harmison started the series well, with a hostile opening spell on the first day of the 1st Test, taking five wickets, including that of Australia captain Ricky Ponting.

19.

An incident in this innings in which Steve Harmison cut Ricky Ponting's face with a short ball caused controversy because of the apparently uncaring response of England players to Ponting's injury, a response about which Steve Harmison subsequently expressed regret.

20.

Steve Harmison took the final wicket of Michael Kasprowicz the next day, caught behind from a bouncer by Geraint Jones for England to win by the wafer thin margin of only two runs.

21.

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

22.

In October 2007, Steve Harmison travelled to South Africa to play domestic cricket before heading to Sri Lanka as part of the England Test squad.

23.

Steve Harmison was not included in the squad for the first test, however he took three wickets in the second.

24.

Steve Harmison was then dropped from the Test side after the first game of the subsequent series in New Zealand.

25.

On 7 August 2008 Steve Harmison returned to the England Test team for the Fourth Test match versus South Africa.

26.

Steve Harmison took two wickets for 49 runs in helping England to dismiss South Africa for 194 on the first day of the match.

27.

In England's first innings Steve Harmison hit a career high Test match score of 49 not out.

28.

Steve Harmison ran teammate Monty Panesar out trying to reach 50.

29.

Steve Harmison lost his place in the Test team again the following winter during a series in the West Indies.

30.

However, on 7 August 2009, exactly one year after his previous return, Steve Harmison was selected to play in the 4th Ashes Test at Headingley, replacing the injured Andrew Flintoff.

31.

Whereas Atherton had played 115 tests, Steve Harmison achieved the feat in his 62nd test.

32.

Steve Harmison took the wicket of Simon Katich caught in the gully for a duck in the second over of Australia's innings.

33.

Steve Harmison had bowled well to a supportive audience, and should have taken the wicket of Michael Clarke late on in the first day but the appeal was turned down.

34.

Steve Harmison went on to take the wicket of Australian keeper Brad Haddin.

35.

Steve Harmison went on to play in the 5th Test at the Oval; on the final day of the series, Steve Harmison claimed the three penultimate wickets to fall, including those of Peter Siddle and Stuart Clark with consecutive deliveries, both caught after attempting to play to the leg side, to create a unique opportunity to win the Ashes with a hat-trick.

36.

Steve Harmison announced his retirement from all forms of games on 6 October 2013.

37.

However, on 8 February 2015, Steve Harmison was appointed manager of Ashington in the ninth-tier of English football.