Ryan Harris: Etching His Name into History as a Player and a Coach

Before he became the coach that restored South Australia to glory, he was one of Australia’s great bowlers in an impactful five-year test career.

Ryan Harris has already etched his name in history as a player and a coach.

It all began growing up in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, working his way up through the ranks before he was told on his 21st birthday that he’d be making his List A debut for South Australia, early in the 2000-01 season.

After eight seasons with South Australia, Ryan made the move to Queensland to continue his career up north.

After an impressive start in maroon, Ryan found himself in and around the Australian white-ball squads in 2008/09, which ultimately led to his ODI debut against South Africa in Hobart.

“I had just won a one-day final for my club in Queensland, and the next morning got a call to head to Hobart that afternoon because Shaun Tait was in doubt,” Harris said of his ODI Debut.

“Taity started warming up, and then half-way through the warmup someone ran over and told me I was playing.

“It was a last-minute sort of thing, so I didn’t have the sleepless night or anything like that beforehand, I was rushed into it, which I was ready to go anyway.”

Following his debut, Harris had some surgery on his shoulder that sidelined him for longer than expected, which led to a 12 month wait for his next ODI appearance. Missing a year didn’t faze him as he took back-to-back 5 wicket hauls in his second and third ODI’s.

“I had just won a one-day final for my club in Queensland, and the next morning got a call to head to Hobart that afternoon because Shaun Tait was in doubt,” Harris said of his ODI Debut.

“Taity started warming up, and then half-way through the warmup someone ran over and told me I was playing.

“It was a last-minute sort of thing, so I didn’t have the sleepless night or anything like that beforehand, I was rushed into it, which I was ready to go anyway.”

Following his debut, Harris had some surgery on his shoulder that sidelined him for longer than expected, which led to a 12 month wait for his next ODI appearance. Missing a year didn’t faze him as he took back-to-back 5 wicket hauls in his second and third ODI’s.

After his first taste in Australian colours with the white-ball, Harris did get his baggy green and an opportunity at Test level at the age of 30, in the end making 27 appearances in Test Matches for Australia from 2010-15.

“It was a great environment to be a part of.

“To be able to get in there, cement a spot and be around it for five years, I wish it was longer, but it was fantastic and a great experience for me.”

Ryan reflects on his involvement in the Australian Test side as an “amazing time for the team.”

A 5-0 Ashes whitewash at home in 2013-14 stands out as a highlight. For many cricket-lovers, that delivery to Alastair Cook on the first ball of the second innings of the third Test at the WACA, is widely regarded as one of the greatest deliveries that’s ever been bowled.

“I still have people come up to me and talk about it,” Ryan said with a chuckle.

“It’s a nice little thing to keep hearing.

“Every now and then, someone will come up to me when my kids are around, and they’d say, what are they talking about Dad? Not so much now, but early on, I used to show them exactly what they were talking about.” Harris laughed.

Continuing, Harris said “that little personal memory is great,
but also, there's what happened around that time with the team and how successful we were, we went to number one in the world not long after, which was a goal.

“Obviously personal milestones and goals are great to achieve, but when you're doing it as a team and all contributing, it's why you play the game.”

After a significant impact as a player at both state and international level, Ryan made his way into the coaching ranks. Throughout his career he often saw himself as a bit of a coach to the younger players that were coming through.

“I probably identified that halfway through my career.

“The other thing that people attribute to me is being injured a lot, unfortunately, I had a lot of downtime and for me, it was just cricket, I loved the game.”

Ryan jumped at opportunities to learn about coaching, taking the chances when he was injured to lean into learning more about it.

“Darren Lehmann gave me some great opportunities at Queensland, so I was able to see how it worked, and I was really fascinated by it.”

“I'm passionate about the game, passionate about success and passionate about helping people achieve their success.”

After what Ryan considers a good apprenticeship in the pathways, and a year as an Assistant Coach with the South Australian side, he got the opportunity to take the reigns as Head Coach of the South Australia Men’s team, and what followed was special.

In his first season at the helm, Ryan led the SA team to win both the One-Day Cup and the Sheffield Shield, both in front of home crowds at Adelaide Oval and Karen Rolton Oval.

“I knew there was a lot of talent in this squad, that's the reason that I moved back.

“I came down as an opportunity for myself, to get into senior coaching, but I wasn't going to go somewhere I didn't think were going to have success.”

For a state that had been starved of success in recent times, the turnaround was amazing to watch, and fans turned out in droves for the Shield Final in particular, with the post-match scenes showing how much it means to the state.

“When they popped around the corner of the pavilion on the balcony and saw half the ground covered with fans, a few of them were taken aback by it because, it was actually real, and this is what it means to this state.

“To see the excitement, the people in tears, all the factors that come with winning, what you've done, you've won it not just for your mates and the organisation, you've won it for the state and I think the appreciation of that was right then, that far out, this is big.”

Heading into season 2025-26 there now may be some expectation and potentially pressure on this South Australian outfit to back it up, which Ryan and the squad will welcome, saying:

“We want expectation, we want to be looked upon as a team and a squad that are going to be fighting for trophies. We want to become a consistent cricket team and consistently have success”

“It's very easy to sit here and say we're going to be the hunted, but we want to keep hunting for trophies and hunting for success.”

Harris is appreciative of the support that he’s been able to receive throughout his time as a professional cricketer and ACA Member.

“When I was playing the ACA was a great sounding board for everything that you needed, whether that be study or personal development or anything.”

“There's no doubt it's a great organisation that I know the players are very appreciative of.”

He’s seen the ACA grow since he started as a player in 2000 when it was in its infancy, to now offering so many amazing programs, services, and benefits to Current and Past Players.

“I’m very thankful to the ACA and the founders of the ACA that have put us in a position to earn a great living through cricket.”

Ryan has a fingerprint on many great moments in Australian cricket already as both a player and a coach, and he’s not done yet, as his coaching career is sure to have more special moments to come.