Harmison ruled out of Trophy Final by back injury

Harmison, 28, complained of soreness in his back during the current County Championship clash with Surrey earlier this week, having only recently returned from a hernia operation.

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It is a blow for the England paceman, who had hoped to feature in the county's maiden Lord's one-day final after missing the entire npower Test series against India.

Although the extent of the injury is yet to be fully assessed by the England medical team, initial scans have suggested there is a muscle tear with an associated haematoma and the likelihood is that Harmison will miss most of the remainder of the domestic season.

It has been a disjointed summer for Harmison, who struggled for form early on and then attempted to delay surgery on his troublesome hernia to get through the three-match campaign against the Indians.

Despite playing for a couple of weeks after first experiencing discomfort during the fourth Test win over West Indies at Chester-le-Street, Harmison suffered a recurrence of the problem on the eve of the Lord's opener against Rahul Dravid's India.

Yet he was back on the field for Durham as captain just three weeks after undergoing the knife, captaining the side against Sri Lanka A, in his bid to get match fit for this weekend's showpiece match.

Harmison's, who no longer plays one-day cricket for England following his retirement, has three months until his next potential international commitment - the Test tour of Sri Lanka which begins on November 14.

The paceman said: "The severity of the injury has surprised everyone and the timing couldn't be worse. Having played for Durham through the lean years I was looking forward to making my mark in Durham's first ever final and I'm heartbroken I won't be playing."

"However, we have a strong squad and whoever steps up to take my place will be a quality player. It doesn't matter which 11 players we put out at Lord's we have a good chance of bringing the trophy back to Durham and I'll be in London with the team to give them any help they need."

Durham head coach Geoff Cook said: "Everyone is devastated for Stephen. He has worked so hard to come back from his operation and was looking forward to playing at Lord's. This is a cruel blow for him but when one door closes another one opens and this is a real opportunity for another one of our talented squad."