HARMISON JOINS PCA TEAM FOR PRE-SEASON MEETINGS Steve Harmison, one of England’s 2005 Ashes-winning heroes, has joined the PCA team for the Association’s programme of pre-season county visits. Harmison, who took 222 wickets for England in 62 Tests, retired from county cricket in 2013 but is now keen to put something back into the game he served so well.. Harmison has joined the PCA team comprised of chief executive Angus Porter, assistant chief executive Jason Ratcliffe and the six-strong team of Personal Development Managers who cover the 18 first-class counties to talk about his own experiences in the game. The 36 year-old former fast bowler is keen to emphasise to current county players the importance of planning for life after cricket and to use the PCA’s Personal Development Managers to devise a personal development plan. ” The longer you are in the game the harder it is when you come out of the game. For 18 years someone told me what to do, what to eat, what to wear and what time to turn up,” Harmison said. ” When you come to finish it’s like the supermarket automatic doors opening. You have handfuls of shopping that are getting heavier and heavier, your shoulders get more hunched and you are thinking: where is my car? I need to find my car. ” You can plan forever but when the day your career ends comes it’s doubly difficult, but especially when you have been in the game for as long as I have because you get in that set routine. ” You are not set up for life. You live by the means you are earning and then all that stops. I have got four kids and a family to provide for. The kids have to go to school and have the best things. ” I have spent 18 years playing cricket in an active world and you still need that active mentality. ” Current players should realise what the PCA have put in place for them. That’s something we have to put across. I didn’t realise how good it was until late in my career. If players can tap into the expertise that is there now it’ will make it a lot easier for them when they finish playing cricket.” Harmison will continue his involvement with the PCA on their visits to Durham and Yorkshire, his two former counties, next week. “It’s great having somebody like Steve involved, with such a fantastic career behind him and recent knowledge and experiences of exiting the game,” Ratcliffe said. ” Notably his words of wisdom on how to approach life as a professional cricketer and how to start preparing for life after cricket have been invaluable. ” He’s shared views across a range of areas, from his experiences with the media to the current topic of the future structure of domestic cricket.” {{ak_sharing}}
