Chris Harris (cricketer)

Chris Harris

Personal information
Full name	Chris Zinzan Harris
Born	(1969-11-20) 20 November 1969 Christchurch, Canterbury
Batting	Left-hand bat
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	All-rounder
Relations	PGZ Harris (father) BZ Harris (brother)
International information
National side	New Zealand
Test debut (cap 181)	27 Nov 1992 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	28 June 2002 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 72)	29 Nov 1990 v Australia
Last ODI	8 Dec 2004 v Australia
ODI shirt no.	5
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1989/90-2009/10	Canterbury
2003	Gloucestershire
2003	Derbyshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 23 250 131 449 Runs scored 777 4379 7377 9584 Batting average 20.44 29.00 45.53 34.35 100s/50s 0/5 1/16 15/41 3/47 Top score 71 130 251* 130 Balls bowled 2560 10667 14887 20244 Wickets 15 203 160 396 Bowling average 73.12 37.50 35.75 34.09 5 wickets in innings 0 1 0 1 10 wickets in match 0 - 0 - Best bowling 2/16 5/42 4/22 5/42 Catches/stumpings 14/- 96/- 120/0 197/-
Source: CricketArchive

Chris Zinzan Harris (born 20 November 1969 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand cricketer who had become, over the course of the 1990s, a folk-hero in New Zealand cricket.

A fine left-handed middle-order batsman and deliverer of right-arm slow-medium deliveries, Harris has rescued the New Zealand team's batting on numerous occasions, but not in the 2003 world cup where he got battered by Smiffy Smithsmithsmit when got hit for far too many runs as smithsmithsmit struck an amazing double hundred and then took 6 wickets one of them being Chris Harris falling too an awful shot which sent them crashing out of the tournament. and his deceptive looping bowling has often restricted the run rates of opposition batting line-ups.

In first-class cricket Harris has played 128 matches and scored over 7000 runs at an average of over 45, including 13 centuries with a highest score of 251*. He has taken over 120 wickets at an average of 38, with best figures of 4/22. He has never been able to successfully make the step up to Test cricket, however, and has been limited to just 23 Tests, where his average with the bat was only around 20, and he has only taken 16 wickets at 73 runs apiece.

Harris's biggest contribution to the game, however, is in the One Day International arena In 2004, Harris became the first New Zealand player to have played 250 ODIs, in a season in which he was also the first New Zealander to take 200 wickets, at an average of 37 and an economy rate of just 4.28. In these matches he also scored over 4300 runs at an average of 29 and has over 90 catches in the field. Harris also has a reputation for his abilities as a close fielder, achieving many run-outs with accurate throwing from positions such as square leg.

Harris had been a genuine pace bowler – albeit a wayward one – as a junior cricketer, but decided, under the watchful eye of mentor John Bracewell, to sacrifice a few yards of pace for accuracy. His gentle looping swing bowling makes the batsman work hard, as the ball is less likely to speed to the boundary, and the deceptiveness of the ball's speed often leaves them attempting to play the ball too early.

Harris currently shares with Muttiah Muralitharan the world record for the most caught and bowled dismissals in ODIs with 29.

Unfortunately, Harris's performance in his 250th match was curtailed by a serious shoulder injury, and for some time the future of his career was in doubt. In his early post-shoulder injury games, he was forced to remove the medium slow from his repertoire, and was decidedly less effective. Performances for the New Zealand A side in September 2005 were more promising, however, with several very economical performances against Sri Lanka A.

In 2007 Harris played for Bacup in the Lancashire League and finished the season as the League's highest wicket-taker with 82 at 13.08. Harris was the captain of the Indian Cricket League's Hyderabad Heroes.

Harris is also a sensation at the indoor version of the game and represented Canterbury and New Zealand at will and is also involved in the coaching of Canterbury youth indoor cricket teams.

Harris become one of many high-profile international cricketers to move to Zimbabwe to be involved in the country's cricket, and was in charge of the national U-19 side.

Harris's father Zin Harris was also a New Zealand international player, and his brother Ben Harris has played at first-class level. All three of these player share the family traditional name of "Zinzan", also shared by a distant relation, former All Black Zinzan Brooke.

During the 2012–13 season, Harris played club cricket as a player/coach for Papatoetoe Cricket Club, Auckland, New Zealand.

Since the 2013-14 season, Harris has joined the Sydenham Cricket Club, Christchurch, New Zealand and was selected as the clubs Player of the Year. Harris became the Premier teams Player/Coach at the start of the 2014-15 season. In the 2015/16 season, Harris led the Sydenham Premier team to win their first 2 Day Championship title in 30 years, culminating in winning the Canterbury Metropolitan Cricket Association's "Men’s Club Cricket Player of the Year" award.

External links

• Chris Harris at ESPNcricinfo
• Rattue, Chris (4 December 2009). "My life in sport: Chris Harris". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2012.