Full name         : Stephen James Harmison

 Born                 : 23 October 1978, Ashington, Northumberland, Durham

 Current age     : 28 years  

 Major teams    : England

 Batting style    : Right Hand Bat

 Bowling style   : Right Arm Fast





At the age of just 20, Harmison was called into England A's tour to South Africa in 1998/99. Harmison was first called into the full England Test squad aged 22 for the May 2000 series against Zimbabwe. Harmison wasn't played in this series, but it re-affirmed his potential to be a full England international, something Harmison had to wait 2 years for. An injury to Simon Jones before the Trent Bridge Test against India of 2002 gave Harmison his debut. Harmison ended his debut with respectable figures of 5-120, with Ajit Agarkar being his first ever Test victim. Following his debut, Harmison was awarded his first central contract in March 2003.

Injuries to other bowlers led to Harmison's recall for the winter tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and it was here that Harmison really made his first mark in international cricket. An excellent 9-79 on a slow wicket in the first Test in Dhaka, Bangladesh led to a Man of the Match award, and got England off to an excellent start in a series which England comfortably won. In the first Test in Kingston, West Indies started there 2nd innings, 28 runs behind England, needing a large score to put pressure on the England batsmen.





However, they hadn't banked on Harmison, who in an amazing spell of just 12.3 overs, took 7 wickets for just runs, including the wickets of Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Gayle. This brilliant piece of bowling helped England bowl the West Indies out for just 47 runs. This led to Harmison being ranked as one of the World's top fast-bowlers, indeed Brian Lara claimed that "England had no plan B after Harmison".

Over 11 unbeaten Tests his rare aggression and power yielded 61 wickets at 21.44 as Michael Vaughan's England came of age. No player is more important to the England cause this summer than Harmison.