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25 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST CALVIN HARRISON “YOU EITHER RAISE YOUR GAME AND RELISH THAT FEELING, OR YOU CAN FEEL OVERWHELMED BY IT AND IT CAN GO THE OPPOSITE WAY, BUT IT HAS FELT NATURAL FOR ME TO ENJOY IT” Calvin Harrison on T20 matches in front of packed houses. intensity T20 games, and I think it brought out a different level of competitiveness within me. “You either raise your game and relish that feeling, or you can feel overwhelmed by it and go the opposite way, but it has felt natural for me to enjoy it. “There are certain times you want to notice the crowd and feel them surrounding you, and there are times when you completely shut it out so that nothing on the outside is affecting you. “It’s something I’ve developed – learning how to zone in and zone out, and engage with the crowd when I need it.” Progress, though, has not been entirely serene during Harrison’s stint in green and gold. An injury sustained on his left shoulder from a dive in the field during the summer of 2022 led to surgery and twelve weeks of recovery that winter. The rehabilitation paid off in spades as he earned his Nottinghamshire First-Class debut in the most recent campaign, and retained his spot courtesy of strong showings with the ball, gutsy innings with the bat and frankly awe-inspiring feats in the field. “The red-ball game sets different challenges, especially consistency-wise, but whatever happens going forward, I’ve now got that confidence from last summer to know that I can perform in that format, at that level. “I’ve worked hard since joining Notts on all three aspects of my game, and through the work I’ve done with all the staff here and my performances in the second team I was really happy to get the call up for the first team.” At last, all-format vindication for the decision to devote a lifetime to a dream. “Even through lockdown in the winter leading into that university game against Notts, I was very much focused on cricket,” he says. “I wasn’t with any county system, so I would bowl to my brother on a gravelly tennis court over the back of our house when restrictions allowed it. “The balls got shredded up, but I was doing whatever I could to stay in the game.” Those were the hard, unseen yards – far removed from a Friday-night Blast fixture or a crunch county clash. But how handsomely they have paid off so far.