Arun Harinath

Arun Harinath is a top-order batsman who has been involved with Surrey since the age of nine but has never quite managed to nail down a first-team spot. It took him until the age of 25 to score his first first-class hundred, although it was worth the wait, setting up a victory against Middlesex.

He is renowned for his adhesiveness at the top of the order, and was given an extended run there in after Graeme Smith's 2013 season was prematurely ended through injury. Harinath formed a solid partnership with Rory Burns, as well as, briefly, Ricky Ponting - the pair shared a 180-run partnership against Derbyshire in May where Harinath scored a career best 154 - but he lost his place again after a horror run later in the season. Opportunities were more limited in 2014, with Zafar Ansari and Rory Burns becoming an established opening pair, but Harinath was a reliable fill-in in any batting position, and even took two wickets with his unrefined medium-pace bowling to set up a Championship victory against Glamorgan. By 2017, his Surrey opportunities had dried up completely and he was briefly loaned out to Leicestershire, then the least successful county in the country, without success.

Earlier in his career, in 2005 he was selected in ECB Development of Excellence XI squad to play against Sri Lanka Under-19s and in the winter of 2005-06 played Sydney Grade Cricket for Randwick Petersham. He graduated from the Surrey Academy in 2006 and was awarded a contract with the senior team for the 2007. While his statistics are not spectacular, he is a well-valued and popular member of the squad.

ESPNcricinfo staff