Ryan Harris

A well-built, skiddy fast bowler, Ryan Harris graduated from Australia's Cricket Academy in 2002 and went on to represent South Australia for most of his domestic career, and was eventually blessed with the opportunity to don national colours.

Making his first-class debut in 2001-02, Harris arrived as a surprisingly fast bowler who bowled at a menacing speed. His impressive figures of 8-140 against Western Australia in 2006-07 earned him a lot of praise from all corners. He was South Australia's leading wicket-taker that season as well. Ryan went on to represent Queensland, before signing up with Sussex in county cricket, only to realize that he had breached the county's contract by signing as a local for the former. He then signed up to play for Yorkshire in 2010.

'Ryano' made his international debut in a one-day match against South Africa in 2009. He did not have a memorable debut though, picking up just one wicket and conceding 54 runs in his spell of 10 overs. He had to wait for more than a year for his next appearance in the Aussie side. Acting as a replacement in the team, Harris bowled brilliantly against Pakistan, scalping 13 wickets in 3 ODIs, which eventually led to his Test debut against New Zealand aged 30 years. His bowling figures in windy conditions were proof enough of his strike-power. Harris also played in the Indian T20 League in 2009, where he represented the winners of that edition, Hyderabad. Harris was later bought by the Mohali-based franchise in 2011 and was also a part of Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. Harris made his T20I debut against the West Indies in 2010 and was also part of the 2010 World Twenty20 side, replacing legendary speedster, Brett Lee. However, injuries to the knee restricted his chances of a permanent spot in the national team, and he was consequently dropped in favour of other fit bowlers. Harris played just 3 T20Is and 21 ODIs across the span of his career. However, it was in the longest format of the game that Harris showed his worth.

Like Shane Watson, Harris had to eat his own pie of injuries over his career. However, the selectors kept faith in him and provided him with further opportunities whenever he returned to full fitness. Harris repaid the faith shown in him by the selectors and he was worth every dime! Harris proved to be one of the best bowlers for Australia during their Ashes loss in England, in 2013 and his body surprisingly stood by him during the return Ashes later in the same year. For the first time in his career, he played a continuous string of 5 Test matches and bowled exceedingly well in each! The Australians embarrassed the England team as they won the Ashes 5-0 and retained the 'Urn' in style.

After the Ashes in 2013-14, Harris' form started to dip though. He was in the squad for Australia's tour of South Africa in 2014. Across the 3-match Test series, Harris managed to pick up 10 wickets. Australia won the series 2-1 but the performance from Harris was not too good. Following the Test series against South Africa, Harris was ruled out for around six months as he underwent knee surgery. Harris made his comeback in late 2014 as Australia hosted India. This time on home soil, Harris again managed to pick up 10 wickets across 3 matches in the Test series. However, with other pacers like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Josh Hazlewood amongst many others fighting for places in the Test squad, Harris was dropped and that proved to be his final match for Australia.

After that, Ryan Harris played just a single domestic match against Kent. In July 2015, Harris announced his retirement from cricket. In October 2019, he made a return to cricket but in the capacity of the bowling coach for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. A career that could have been very different had it not been for injuries, Ryan Harris will always be remembered for his menacing pace bowling - that delivery to clean up Sir Alastair Cook remains etched in the memories of all the cricket fans.