Injury Puts Harmison Out of Durham's Prize-chasing

Steve Harmison has been ruled out of the remaining four matches of Durham's push for a first Championship title, as well as tomorrow's Friends Provident Trophy final against Hampshire, after the injury he picked up early on the second day of this game turned out to be far more serious than first feared.

"When the specialist saw the scans he was shocked - he said it looked as though I'd been in a car crash," Harmison told a Newcastle newspaper yesterday. "I've got internal bleeding in my back [and] it is a bitter, bitter pill to swallow so close to the final.

"To have had the high of coming back from hernia surgery in three weeks, to be so happy that I was going to be able to play in the final it is very difficult to come to terms with. It would have been the biggest highlight of my career since winning the Ashes.

"I have been at Durham since I was a kid in 1996. I'm heartbroken that I will not be able to help them try and win that first trophy. All I wanted to hear from the doctor was that he could give me an injection and I could play on Saturday. I would have taken the injection, even if it meant I fell to pieces on Sunday."

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board issued a statement explaining that Harmison's recovery will now be supervised by their medical team with the priority of ensuring his fitness for England's Test tour of Sri Lanka this winter.

"I don't know when I will play again," added Harmison, who is expected to receive a reduced central contract next month covering only Test cricket following his international one-day retirement earlier this year. "I will be doing everything I can to ensure I'm back for Durham before the end of the season. However, I've got to accept that might not happen. If it doesn't, I've got to make sure I'm in the best possible condition for England's tour to Sri Lanka."

His injury cost Durham the chance of pressing for a win here, as their captain Dale Benkenstein condemned the game to a draw with an ultra-cautious declaration mindful of the fast bowler's absence from the attack.

Benkenstein allowed Liam Plunkett to plunder a 42-ball half-century including four sixes off five balls of a Harbhajan Singh over that cost 26 before setting Surrey a target of 447 from 86 overs. Despite an unplayable leg-cutter from Ottis Gibson that plucked out Mark Ramprakash's off-stump, the visitors eased to a draw, with Jon Batty digging in for a gritty century. But the seven points Surrey take from this game are no more useful in their battle against relegation than Durham's eight are towards their title push.