Steve Harmison shrugged off the frustration at missing the biggest triumph in Durham's history and claimed the county could be entering a golden era of success.

The 28-year-old fast bowler was forced to sit out Durham's against-the-odds 125-runs victory over Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy final with a back strain which is expected to rule him out for the rest of the season.

Harmison remained in the background as his team-mates lifted the trophy at the Lord's and completed Durham's rags to riches story with their first major success just 15 years since they gained full first class status.

But having made his debut 11 years ago and lived through the struggles during the early years - they finished bottom of the championship in three of their first five years on the first class circuit - Harmison is desperate that this should not be an isolated triumph.

This is the sort of platform we have to set - we have to kick on from here,'' stressed Harmison.

It's all well and good getting to a final, but we know we have to prove to everybody in the country that we are a force and we're going to be around for a long time.

Winning this trophy is probably bigger than the day we got first class status. It was obviously a big day when we became a first class county, but once you're there you have to produce and to do it after 15 years is an amazing achievement.'' As one of three players alongside England team-mate Paul Collingwood and all-rounder Neil Killeen who remember Durham's struggles a decade ago, Harmison is just delighted to have finally tasted some success - even if he was on the periphery.

Durham may yet be given the opportunity to lift further silverware this season and lie third in the championship, trailing leaders Sussex by 12.5 points and are also third in the Pro40 second division just two points behind table-toppers Kent.

I think we've proven a few things to a lot of people,'' claimed Harmison. I listened to Michael Atherton on the television at lunch-time during the final and he said for a while that Durham were a joke and we possibly were.

Myself, Neil Killeen and Paul Collingwood were all part of that joke when everybody used to love to come to Durham.

They used to say that they'd only book in for three nights because they knew the game wouldn't last for four days, but now it's different and people fear coming to the north east.

We're right up there in the championship, we're hoping to go up from the second division of the Pro40 this year and we've won a Lord's final - it's not bad going from a situation where we were regarded as a joke to one of the most successful counties.'' Harmison added: Winning in this final is a massive achievement and probably the biggest thing for me next to winning the Ashes.

I've played in many big and memorable games here at Lord's like the NatWest series finals or the first day of every Test summer at Lord's.

As an Englishman it's just a fantastic day to be involved in but had I played in the final it would have been the biggest day at Lord's I've ever had, which is why I was so disappointed the other day when I got the news that I wouldn't be playing.'' * Leave your tribute to Durham's amazing success below: