David Harris (cricketer)

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David Harris (born c.1755 at Elvetham, Hampshire; died 19 May, 1803 in Crookham, Hampshire) was an English cricketer famous for his fast and accurate bowling. He was a right arm fast bowler but he batted left-handed.

There can be little doubt that Harris was one of the greatest bowlers of the underarm era, ranking alongside Edward "Lumpy" Stevens and Thomas Brett.

Some line drawings of Harris and other players of the 1790s have survived. Harris is shown in the characteristic pose described by John Nyren as he began his action. He stands erect with the ball raised over his head. This gave him complete freedom of arm swing and the ball when delivered was pitched very fast and accurately. Harris seems to have got "pace off the pitch" and Nyren has recorded that numerous batsmen received nasty injuries to their unprotected hands from balls that trapped their fingers against the bat handle.

Harris lived in the Hampshire village of Crookham, where he was a potter by trade. Like the Walker brothers and Thomas Boxall, he used to practice his bowling in a barn during the winter. He suffered from gout in his later years and the sources have recorded how he would arrive at a game on crutches and then sit on a chair between deliveries.