Mark Harman (cricketer)

Mark David Harman (born 30 June 1964) played first-class and List A cricket for Somerset in 1986 and 1987 and for Kent in 1988 and 1989. He was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Harman was a lower-order right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-spin bowler. He played for Somerset's second eleven before he was 17, but had to wait more than five years before he made a first-team appearance: the stumbling-block to his career was the presence in the Somerset side of Vic Marks, a much better batsman and an occasional Test off-spinner. In two seasons of first-team cricket with Somerset, Harman played only nine first-class and three limited-overs matches, and took just eight first-class wickets and only one in List A games. His best bowling for Somerset was only two for 38, though he did make his highest first-class score, 41, in the match against Kent at Bath. At the end of the 1987 season, he took up a contract with Kent.

The move to Kent brought somewhat more regular first-team cricket, though Harman was largely restricted to the first-class team, playing only one List A match in his two years with the county. The 1988 season brought his two best bowling performances. Against Oxford University he took five wickets for 55 runs. Then in August he took five Leicestershire second-innings wickets out of the seven that fell in a drawn match. Having played in half of Kent's first-class matches in 1988, however, Harman reverted to being a fringe player in 1989: he had his best match return with nine wickets for 136 runs in the game against Cambridge University. But was picked for only one other match, and at the end of the season he left the staff to take up a career in accountancy.

Mark married Maria in 1989. They have two children, Harry and Arthur.