I've nothing to prove - Harmison
The last time England played in the Caribbean a tall paceman from Durham grabbed all the headlines but, as the team prepares to head out to West Indies for the World Cup, Steve Harmison won't even be on the plane
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After the 5-0 Ashes whitewash Harmison announced his retirement from one-day cricket, saying he hoped it would extend his time at Test level. His last ODIs where in the Champions Trophy, when two wayward performances continued a poor run with the white ball, which Harmison struggled to control. In 2006 he took 14 wickets at 30, but that doesn't tell the whole story as he went for almost six-an-over, include a 0 for 97 hammering by Sri Lanka at Headingley.
His efforts in the Ashes will be remembered for one ball, his opening delivery of the series which went straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip. After his one-day retirement questions were again asked about his commitment and passion, but Harmison is shrugging all that off.
"I don't think I've got to prove anything to anyone, my record speaks for itself," he told The Journal, although others will beg to differ after a career that hasn't lived up that 2004 West Indies tour.
"What I want to do is enjoy my cricket again because I didn't enjoy what happened this winter. The reasons for that are pretty obvious, but it's behind me and I'm only looking forward. I won't let the criticism get to me, I've got big enough shoulders to deal with that. If people think otherwise, they don't know me.
"All I'll say is, I've learnt a lot about who my friends are and who was pretending to be my friend. That's all I'll say about it, but I know what I want out of life and I know I'm still a good fast bowler."
Harmison will have a handful of early-season Championship and domestic one-dayers to prove his worth to the selectors before the opening Test against West Indies, which starts on May 17 at Lord's.
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