Steve Harmison the former England fast bowler who took 223 wickets in 63 Tests, has retired from cricket, bringing to an end a 17-year career with Durham. Harmison did not play a game in the club's 2013 County Championship-winning campaign and his contract subsequently expired.
"I was hoping to go out on a high in my benefit year but my body has not allowed me to, and I have not made a single first-team appearance," Harmison told the local Sunday Sun newspaper. "With my contract up at the end of the season, I have known for a while I would be calling it a day."
After making his Test debut against India at Trent Bridge in 2002, Harmison also played in 58 ODIs, picking up 76 wickets at an average of 32.64. He also played two T20s against Australia and Sri Lanka. He was an integral part of the England squad that clinched the historic 2005 Ashes 2-1, taking 17 wickets from five matches.
His retirement, following that of Matthew Hoggard last month and Andrew Flintoff three years ago, means that only Simon Jones, of England's four-man pace attack in that series, is still playing.
Harmison famously produced figures of 7 for 12 against West Indies in Jamaica in 2004 and was briefly rated as the No. 1 bowler in the Test rankings later that year, but had admitted that he found touring difficult because of homesickness and once admitted: "I don't like travelling full stop - that's just me and I'll never change."