Durham legend and former England Test bowler Steve Harmison has chosen the best eleven he played alongside during his seventeen year career at Emirates Riverside.
Harmison’s time at the club was filled with success, most notably Durham lifting their first ever County Championship trophy in 2008, with the bowler taking 60 wickets during the course of the season.
With many players playing for the club during his lengthy spell, who makes the best eleven?
Jon Lewis – 1997-2006
Former Head Coach, Lewis led Durham to the County Championship title in 2013, the Royal London Cup in 2014 and to T20 Finals Day in 2016; but it’s his playing career earns him a spot as opening batsman in Harmison’s side.
Lewis made his first-class debut for Essex in 1990, before moving to the North in 1997 to join Durham. Throughout his time with the bat, he posted 10,281 runs in 205 first-class appearances, scoring 16 hundreds and 66 fifties.
Michael Di Venuto – 2007-2012
International career: Australia
Coming in at number two, Australian Michael Di Venuto, who was part of a Durham squad that won back-to-back County Championship titles in 2008 and 2009.
Di Venuto’s time in cricket started with Tasmanian Tigers in 1991. The batsman joined Durham in 2007 after previous spells in England with Sussex and Derbyshire.
With a total 25,200 runs in 336 first-class matches, with a high score of 254* against former side Sussex in 2009, it may come as no surprise to see him included in this XI.
Paul Collingwood 1995-2018
International career: England
Durham born all-rounder Paul Collingwood is next on Harmison’s list.
A career that started with a first-class debut against Northamptonshire in 1996 and finishing with legendary status at the club.
Throughout his 23 years at Durham, Colly was apart of squads that lifted five major trophies between 2007 and 2014.
Shiv Chanderpaul – 2007-2009
Internation career: West Indies
With more than 450 international appearances for the West Indies, Shiv Chanderpaul.
Shiv made a move to England for the first time in 2007 to join Durham. In his first season at the club in 2007, Durham lifted the first major trophy in their history, with Chanderpaul posting 78 runs in the final of the One Day cup against Hampshire at Lord’s
The success continued in the following years with Chanderpaul, who also played a key role in two County Championship titles.
David Boon – 1997-1999
International career: Australia
Following a very successful international career for Australia, Boon made the move to England to become captain at Durham.
Away from international cricket, Boon made 350 first-class appearances posting a total of 23413 runs.
Dale Benkenstein – 2005-2014
International career: South Africa
South African, Dale Benkenstein, joined Durham in 2005 and made a very quick impression picking up the club’s player of the year award at the first attempt.
Like many others on this list, Benkenstein was apart of a very successful squad winning three major trophies in as many years. During the 2007 One Day Cup final, he posted a score of 61 runs from from 43 balls.
Ben Stokes – 2009 – present.
International career: England
Best known for one of the greatest ever innings in Test cricket during last season’s amazing Ashes victory over Australia at Headingley, Stokes started his career for Durham in 2009.
Alongside a World Cup winners medal with England, Stokes also has major honours with Durham and was named player of the match in 2014’s One Day Cup final win over Warwickshire.
Stokes was also apart of the squad that helped Durham lift the County Championship title for the third time in 2013.
Phil Mustard – 2002-2012
International career: England
Harmison’s choice for wicket-keeper.
At the time, before he was overtaken by Paul Collingwood, nobody has played as many first-class games for Durham than Phil Mustard.
He was a cricketer much loved by Durham supporters, was for a time touted as a solution to England’s search for a wicketkeeper with batting dash in one-day cricket.
Mustard finished his career with an impressive first-class batting average of 30.41, posting a total of 8700 runs from 220 matches.
Liam Plunkett – 2003-2012
International career: England
Now at Surrey, Plunkett started his career with Durham in 2003, taking 19 wickets on his debut season in first-class cricket.
He was part of the Durham side which won the County Championship in 2008 for the first time in their history. An impressive season in which averaged 32.50 with the ball and 27.28 with the bat. In 2009 Durham retained the title, with Plunkett averaging 39 with the ball and 38.94 with bat.
Last year, Plunkett showed his excellent ability in white ball cricket, playing a huge role as England won the World Cup.
Graham Onions – 2003-2017
International career: England
Next into Harmison’s bowling attack is Graham Onions.
A player who has so far taken 723 first-class wickets during his career and often battled with Harmison for a spot in England’s Test side.
Onions made his Durham debut in 2003 before leaving the club in 2017 – making him yet another player to have won numerous titles throughout his time at Emirates Riverside.
Simon Brown – 1991-2002
Interernationl Career: England
Durham Born bowler Simon Brown makes it in at number eleven on Harmison’s list.
Brown made his debut in 1991 and went on to make 159 appearances in first class-cricket, taking a total of 550 wickets.
In 1996, he received his only England call-up for a Test match against Pakistan at Lord’s, taking 2 wickets.