Daniel Harris

Daniel Harris is a qualified doctor, but he also needed plenty of patience in his cricket career after waiting five years for his initial first-class half-century. It took a further four seasons for Harris to stamp himself as a batting force in Australian domestic cricket, when an impressive 813 runs in the 2008-09 Sheffield Shield season put him fifth on the competition tally and finally confirmed him as one of his team's leading batsmen. He added another 622 Shield runs last summer, played the full one-day campaign, and raced to 149 Twenty20 runs at a strike-rate of 138.

Harris was picked for his debut in 1999-2000, but did not raise his bat for South Australia until an 82 against Western Australia in 2004-05. He made only two Pura Cup appearances in 2005-06 but followed with eight the next season. He was in and out as South Australia tinkered with their batting order in 2007-08, though was fortunate to grind out 120 against Tasmania. It was his maiden first-class century and it came eight years after his first-class debut. The following season proved his watershed and he notched up a further two centuries - in consecutive games - as well as a 62-ball 98 in a losing cause against Victoria in a Twenty20 match, the highest Twenty20 score ever by a South Australia batsman.

A lightly framed right-hander, Harris gained his opening taste of first-class cricket when he was chosen as the then-international representative Greg Blewett's replacement for South Australia for three matches. Although he didn't exceed a score of 31, he aligned enthusiasm with a tight technique, a good eye and a liking for hitting the ball through point and cover. He also showcased his brilliance in the field in his debut match when he completed an extraordinary overhead catch, leaping in soccer goalkeeper fashion at cover, to dismiss the Pakistan batsman Wajahatullah Wasti.
Cricinfo staff September 2010