STEVE Harmison will be allowed to ease his way back into the Durham team after Geoff Cook argued the fast bowler needs to ensure he is fully fit before he can seize back his place in the attack.

Harmison has not figured since the opening game of the season at Hampshire, where he suffered a fractured arm when a straight drive from captain Phil Mustard struck him at the non-striker’s end.

It was an unfortunate accident at the start of a campaign in which the 32-year-old had hoped to re-establish himself as one of the premier strike bowlers on the county circuit after an injury- ruined 2010.

In the past, Harmison has been rushed back into match situations almost as soon as he has started bowling again in the nets.

Head coach Cook, though, does not want to make the same mistakes with a player whose body has endured more than a decade of fast bowler wear and tear.

He said: “Stephen got a few overs under his belt bowling for the second last week and, in an ideal situation, we would like him to play another second XI game to get back into the swing of things.

“Unfortunately, we do not have one so he is going to work in the nets instead.

“He has not bowled for the best part of eight months and he needs that practice to get up to speed.

“He will be involved at some point in the next three games.

“We will keep assessing him, but we do not want to risk him against Somerset. In the past we have maybe put him back in too soon and his body has not had the time to repair properly.

“He lacks match fitness and that is what he will be working on. He has only bowled something like 25 overs.

“It will be great when we can re-introduce him into the attack because he is a potential match-winner and hopefully he will come back feeling fresh and fired up.

“We do not need to rush anything as we have bowled well as a team so far this season, as is shown by the number of bowling bonus points we have picked up.”