By the age of 23, Paul Harrison already had three counties under his belt. A middle-order batsman and wicketkeeper, he started at Sussex where he was the Under-19 Player of the Year, made his first-class debut for Loughborough University Centre of Cricketing Excellence against Somerset in 2004, before moving on to Warwickshire in 2005. He then played for Leicestershire in the 2005 Twenty20 Club Championship before signing a contract for 2006 where he was handed the occasional chance, including the Twenty20 final at Trent Bridge. Earlier in the season he'd helped deny the touring Sri Lankans a victory with a stubborn, unbeaten, 28 for British Universities, but he failed to repeat his success in 2007 and was released at the end of the summer. After spending a season in Surrey's second XI he moved to Northamptonshire in 2009, where he had another spell in a county second XI before making his first appearance for the senior team in a NatWest Pro40 game against Surrey in August 2009. Niall O'Brien's presence in the squad, as well as second-choice keeper David Murphy, meant that Harrison played as a specialist batsman, although he did take up the gloves once again while O'Brien was away on national duty with Ireland and Murphy unavailable due to university committments. Harrison's first XI opportunities were, however, limited in 2010.
Liam Brickhill August 2010