Steve Harmison is one of those English fast bowlers who is not talked about enough and that is a disservice to his talents. Steve Harmison played in an English shirt when the English team was getting better and the world was taking them more seriously. Steve Harmison played from 2002-2009 and in these 7 years he played in 63 Test Matches and 58 ODIs for England. In the 63 Test Matches that he played he took an impressive 226 wickets at a bowling average of 31.62. He has taken 6 Five Wicket Hauls in test cricket. He has also played 58 ODIs for England and has taken 76 wickets with 1 Five Wicket Haul.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Bowling Performances of Steve Harmison
1) 7/12 vs West Indies (2004)
This was his best bowling performance in test cricket and it came in the year 2004 vs West Indies. That West Indies was one of the best and had Brian Lara in it. This was the second innings of this match, in the first innings he had already picked 2 Wickets. Steve Harmison only bowled 12.3 overs in the second innings and he gave away only 12 runs and took 7 wickets. This was a dream spell that only happens once or twice in a career. Due to his extraordinary performance England won this match by 10 wickets.
Also Read | Best bowling performances of Glenn McGrath
2) 6/19 and 5/57 vs Pakistan (2006)
To take 5 wickets in both innings of a test match as a fast bowler is remarkable. Steve Harmison was in great form when he faced Pakistan in 2006. In the first innings of this match , he got 6 wickets for just 19 runs. He bowled 13 overs and he absolutely destroyed the Pakistan batting order which had the likes of Inzamam Ul Haq, Younis Khan. Pakistan were bowled out for 119. In the second batting innings of Pakistan he again took 5 wickets and this time he bowled 18 overs and he gave away 57 Runs. England won the match by an innings and 120 runs and he picked 11 wickets in the test match.
Also Read | Best Bowling Performances of Daniel Vettori
3) 6/46 vs West Indies (2004)
Yet another Steve Harmison performance against West Indies in this list. It was so good that it could not be ignored and it looks like he really liked bowling against the West Indies. In this test match West Indies had come to bat after England had made 470, and they all fell like ninepins. Steve Harmison bowled for 13 overs in this spell and after giving away 46 Runs, he took 6 wickets and as a result West Indies were bowled out for 152 and England again won by 10 wickets.
Also Read | Best Stuart Broad bowling performances
4) 5/35 and 4/44 vs Bangladesh (2003)
This was the first great performance by Steve Harmison and this was the one where the world took notice of him and his incredible fast bowling. Steve Harmison took 5 Wickets in the first innings and he bowled for almost 22 overs and only gave away 35 runs in that spell. He had arrived but his job was not done as in the second innings he again stepped up with the ball for England and he got 4 wickets for 44 runs in 25 overs. He had to bowl 47 overs in this match to get the 9 Wickets in this match.
Also Read | Best James Anderson bowling performances
5) 5/33 vs Australia (2005)
This was the best ODI performance by Steve Harmison and it came against Australia in a tight match. Australia were batting first and Steve Harmison was the pick of the Bowlers as in 1/ overs he only gave 33 runs meaning 3.3 runs per over. He took 5 important wickets and all 5 were of the top order including Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. England won the match by 3 Wickets. This was a special performance for Steve Harmison.
