Former English pacer Steve Harmison reveals England had 'lot of selfish characters' playing during his time

Steve Harmison (Source: Twitter)

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, according to former England pacer Steve Harmison, quite a few senior players in the team did not boost the team spirit. However, things improved during the 2005 Ashes series, when the hosts won 2-1. Harmison, a member of the 2005 team, responded to renowned Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie's judgement that he had detected a significant difference in the England team during the 2005 Ashes.

He said, "The difference between that and 2003, 2001 and 1999, 1997, was that in 2005 we were a team."

In previous matches between the two teams, Gillespie claimed on SEN Radio on Tuesday that he had never witnessed the team's cohesiveness. He said, “"I noticed a big difference in the England side in the '05 Ashes… we'd never felt that as an Australian side before."

Gillespie spoke about the biggest change that he and the Australian side had witnessed during the 2005 series.

He said, "England would normally go out in dribs or drabs going onto the field... (but this time) it was really noticeable that as soon as the umpires walked out there, (England skipper) Michael Vaughan was straight out there, everyone was straight out there, quick chat and then they would literally run to their fielding positions, the bowler would run and hand his cap to the umpire and before our batters were halfway onto the ground, the whole England team was set up ready to play, ready to rock."

“We played as a team” : Steve Harmison

The 44-year-old Harmison, who played in 63 Test matches and claimed 226 wickets, claimed that many "selfish" players were responsible for the subpar team culture in England. He said,

"We'd grown up as a team, we played as a team and we behaved off the field like a team (in 2005). In 1997, 2001, 2003/04, you had a lot of selfish characters playing for England."

Harmison then spoke about how the group of individuals were turned into a great team. He said,

"Some great cricketers, don't get me wrong... but when you look at -- and I've got no problem saying this -- the likes of Nasser (Hussain), Athers (Michael Atherton), Thorpey (Graham Thorpe), Corkey (Dominic Cork), Darren Gough, Andy Caddock, there was a group of individuals playing all together as a team where you look at 2005, we were a team."