Born in South Africa but raised in New Zealand and Somerset, Calvin Harrison had an unconventional route to a county contract. He came to prominence in 2021 when his performances as a legspinning allrounder for Nottinghamshire in the T20 Blast won him a last-minute deal as a replacement player for Manchester Originals; six months after submitting his dissertation as a final-year psychology student at Oxford Brookes, Jos Buttler was shouting words of encouragement from behind the stumps in the first men's game of the Hundred.

Harrison was part of the Somerset academy as a teenager but did not graduate to professional contract and trialled at several different counties. He played regularly for Hampshire's seconds in 2019 but was expensive when handed a couple of T20 Blast games in 2020, and with Covid lockdowns in place the following winter, "opportunities there kind of fizzled out".

But at the start of the 2021 season he hit 121 off 166 in a three-day friendly against Nottinghamshire, batting at No. 6, earning himself a period on trial with the Second XI. Days before the start of the T20 Blast, Notts' captain and key allrounder Dan Christian won an unexpected recall to Australia's T20I set-up, and Harrison signed a short-term contract to cover the next three months. He took 20 wickets while conceding less than 7 an over, and was soon rubbing shoulders with Buttler and co. in the Hundred.

Harrison is not a huge spinner of the ball but uses his height to his advantage. "I'm 6ft 4in so when I'm getting over the top of my action and getting over smoothly, that extra bounce and rip are very useful," he explained.

ESPNcricinfo staff