Incumbent Test opener received a series of encouraging texts last summer from a man who had been in his shoes
Harris finds support from surprising source
It was almost a case of 'New phone, who dis?' for Test opener Marcus Harris after he received a surprise message of support from veteran David Warner during his breakout summer in the Baggy Green.
Harris and Warner have never batted together but could be Australia's opening combination for the first Ashes Test in Birmingham from August 1.
And as Harris was racking up run after run across all formats in what was a highly-successful 2018-19 season at home, Warner sent his potential top-order teammate the odd text that boosted his spirits.
"I haven't batted with him (Warner) but I've spoken to him a bit," Harris told cricket.com.au on Friday.
"He sent me a few messages throughout the summer, so that was good.
"It was just 'well done' and 'well played', pretty simple things really, nothing too much to it.
"It's just good to get some messages from guys like that … especially when you don't really know them too much, you don't expect a message from them.
"It was really good. Got one before my debut and then a couple throughout the summer when I did well."
While the texts caught Harris off guard like a surprise short ball, thanks to modern technology he knew exactly who they came from.
"It's a bit hard when their photo comes up on WhatsApp," he said, grinning. "You sorta know who it is."
Harris is in Brighton with the Australia A squad for their three four-day games starting on Sunday against Sussex in nearby Arundel.
The tour ends with a showdown between Australia A and an Australian team in Southampton from July 23-26 after which the Ashes squad will be picked and announced.
The 26-year-old jousted with Australia A's impressive bowling unit on Thursday, absorbing a barrage of high-speed deliveries and counterpunching where he could.
It takes a clear, fresh mind to combat such fierce bowling, which thankfully Harris has after resting for seven weeks after the marathon summer at home.
Across all formats, at domestic and international level, Harris played cricket roughly one day out of every 2.5 from his first List A game in mid-September to the Sheffield Shield final at the start of April.
In that span he played six Tests, the first of his career, 10 Sheffield Shield matches, eight 50-over games for Victoria and six T20s for Melbourne Renegades.
And at almost every corner, Harris and his teammates had success.
Victoria won the JLT One-Day Cup and the Sheffield Shield, the Renegades won the KFC BBL title and while Australia lost the Domain Test series against India they bounced back to win the following Tests against Sri Lanka.
So it's no shock that Harris was fatigued by the end of it all, but he says he wouldn't change a thing if he had been presented with that scenario at the start of the season.
Video Player is loading.
"I felt like I played a million games of cricket," he said.
"It was a really good, really rewarding summer, especially to win all three titles with Victoria and the Renegades and to make my Test debut.
"Then to cap it off with the Shield final was really good.
"It was a big summer and hopefully I can carry on the momentum now."
Australia A tour of the UK
Get live scores and all the latest news from Australia A's tour of the UK on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app
Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Matthew Wade, Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb, Mitch Marsh (vc), D'Arcy Short, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Sean Abbott, Andrew Tye
Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain
One-day fixtures:
June 20: Australia A beat Northamptonshire by six wickets
June 23: Australia A beat Derbyshire by seven wickets
June 25: Australia A v Worcestershire, match abandoned
June 30: Australia A beat Gloucestershire by five wickets
July 2: Australia A beat Gloucestershire by nine runs
Four-day fixtures:
July 7-10: Australia A v Sussex, Arundel
July 13-16: Australia A v England Lions, Canterbury
July 23-26: Australia v Australia A, Hampshire