article: On Saturday, the 36-year-old will take his place in the dugout at Woodhorn Lane - home of Northern League Division One side Ashington AFC - in the FA Cup extra preliminary round as he continues his new career as a football manager. When England's cricketers wrapped up a 2-1 series win a decade ago they were given a rapturous reception by tens of thousands of fans in Trafalgar Square at the end of a victory bus parade. A Downing Street reception followed but there will be no fanfare for Harmison and his Ashington players if they see off Bradford-based Albion Sports at the start of the long road to Wembley. The ninth-tier club, whose average league gate last season was 222, will still be another five victories from the first-round proper. "If someone had told me in 2005 that I'd be manager of Ashington in the FA Cup 10 years later I wouldn't have laughed at them," Harmison, who took 17 wickets during the epic five-match series a decade ago, told BBC Sport. "It's my hometown club. I played for them before I became a professional cricketer. My dad, Jimmy, played for them, and my brother, James, plays for them now. "Even when I was playing cricket for England I used to train with Ashington to help build up my fitness ahead of tours to Australia, West Indies and South Africa. "I love being a football manager. It's a great challenge and I like being around non-league players for their enthusiasm. I can't wait for the FA Cup." Harmison has been put in charge of a team from a town that produced England international Jackie Milburn, as well as the World Cup-winning Charlton brothers, Bobby and Jack. The club from the former mining town in Northumberland, situated 15 miles north of Newcastle, are nicknamed the Colliers and were elected to the Football League in 1921 before being voted out just eight years later. Between 1909 and 2008 they played their home games at Portland Park before moving to their current £1.2m Woodhorn Road base, where a 250-seater stand is due to open in October. "Ashington's a tough place, a mining community," chairman and local MP Ian Lavery told BBC Sport. "I've heard people say that appointing Steve was a publicity stunt, but why would it be? We're ambitious and Steve is a sports star." Media playback is not supported on this device Sixty-three Test matches, 226 Test wickets, 58 one-day internationals, two Twenty20 internationals... Harmison's England statistics make impressive reading. But the former bowler was playing football for Ashington before he was offered his first professional contract at Durham in 1996. "Football has always been a huge part of my life," added the lifelong Newcastle fan, who was appointed Ashington boss on 8 February, along with coaches Ian Skinner and Lee Anderson. "I saw the club was looking for a new manager and decided to put my name forward." Ashington's hierarchy were so impressed with Harmison during his interview that they offered him the job on the same day. "We had 10
summary: Ten years ago Steve Harmison was giving Australia's batsmen sleepless nights, unleashing 90mph deliveries during an unforgettable summer of cricket which saw England regain the Ashes.