Depleted Yorkshire want loan deal for Harmison

I understand Harmison is poised to join the county on a short-term contract and could make his debut in next week’s County Championship match against Hampshire at Southampton.

Harmison, 33, would help provide cover for pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Ryan Sidebottom as Yorkshire look to boost their chances of winning Championship promotion.

Starc will miss the next two Championship games through Australia A commitments, while Sidebottom could be sidelined for up to four Championship matches with a calf injury.

Yorkshire tried to recruit an overseas player to help plug the gap but were unsuccessful in their efforts to land a pace bowler.

However, the loan market opened up fresh possibilities, and Harmison is apparently viewed as the man to fit the bill.

Yorkshire last night declined to comment but an official announcement could follow today.

Harmison, who has struggled for form this season, previously worked at Durham under Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon, who is a known admirer of the player’s capabilities.

Yorkshire would hope a loan move would invigorate the player, who captured 226 Test wickets at 31.

Harmison also claimed 58 one-day international wickets at 32 and, at his peak, was the world’s No 1-ranked bowler.

He has not played international cricket since 2009, when he helped England regain the Ashes against Australia at the Oval.

It was a high note on which to end an international career plagued by bouts of homesickness, anxiety and depression.

Harmison admitted last January that he suffered from depression, which he said was at its height during England’s tour of South Africa in 2004-05.

That series took place shortly after he had risen to world No 1, and he confessed to feeling an overwhelming pressure on his shoulders to perform.

It was a pressure that manifested itself again during the 2006-07 Ashes series, which Harmison began with a wide into the hands of Andrew Flintoff at second slip.

The Ashington-born player remains something of an enigma: inspirational one day, insipid the next.

While Yorkshire turn their attention once more to four-day cricket, with the Hampshire match marking the start of the second half of their Championship programme, they remain unsure whether they will have Starc and fellow overseas player David Miller available for a potential Twenty20 Finals Day appearance.

Starc, 22, is the leading wicket-taker in this year’s tournament with 16 at 10, a contribution that has arguably been the single biggest factor in Yorkshire’s march to the quarter-finals.

Miller, the 23-year-old South African, is Yorkshire’s leading run-scorer in the competition with 202 at 40, and although both men are available for the quarter-finals later this month, with Yorkshire set to find out their opponents after tomorrow’s final group game against Derbyshire at Headingley Carnegie, it is unclear whether they could play at Finals Day in Cardiff on August 25.

Starc could be wanted by Australia around that time, while the date clashes with the South Africa A tour of Ireland, of which Miller is a part.

To further compound matters, it has been announced on the sub-continent that Miller has been signed to play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League, which runs from August 10-31.

The left-hander is one of 56 players named by Sri Lanka Cricket as having been recruited for the event, with the Uthura franchise reportedly paying $25,000 for his services.

However, Yorkshire say it is unlikely Miller will be going to the tournament.

Speaking after yesterday’s Twenty20 game against Lancashire fell foul of the weather, with the Old Trafford ground covered in puddles, Moxon said: “David put his name forward for the Sri Lanka Premier League but predominately for subsequent years.

“In order of preference, South Africa A is the first priority, Yorkshire second and Sri Lanka third.

“Subject to Cricket South Africa’s approval, he would be available for Finals Day.”

Commenting on Starc’s situation, Moxon added: “I’m talking to Cricket Australia about his availability and hopefully we’ll know more in the next few days.

“Obviously we’d want him for Finals Day if possible because he has performed exceptionally well in the tournament so far.”

Elsewhere, in the Twenty20 North Group yesterday’s heavy rains forced two other games to be abandoned. Derbyshire Falcons’ match with Nottinghamshire Outlaws was cancelled due to a waterlogged County Ground.

Both teams are awarded one point for the cancelled fixture, leaving Nottinghamshire all but qualified with rivals Yorkshire for the quarter-finals, whereas Derbyshire are out of the running.

Leicestershire Foxes’ final home game against Durham Dynamos at Grace Road was also rained off five hours before the scheduled start.

Although the Dynamos cannot finish in the top two, they still have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals as one of the best two third-placed teams if they can beat Lancashire Lightning tomorrow when they have home advantage.

Yorkshire batsman Joe Sayers has agreed a new two-year contract.

Sayers, 28, has pledged his future despite having lost his first team place.

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