Morris was born in
Barnsley in September 1978. He first came to the attention of Yorkshire-based cricket coach Jack Sokell, who bought him to the attention of
Yorkshire. He played for the Yorkshire Second XI, and between 1996 and 1998 he played Youth
Test and
One Day International cricket for the
England under-19 cricket team. Morris joined
Hampshire ahead of the 1998 season, alongside his brother,
Alex, and Yorkshire seamer
Peter Hartley. He made his debut for Hampshire in a
first-class match against
Gloucestershire at
Southampton in the
1998 County Championship, with him making a second first-class appearance in the
1999 County Championship against
Northamptonshire. Having begun his career as a
slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he later switched to become a
seam bowler. Two years would elapse before he next played for the Hampshire first team, when in 2001 he made his debut in
List A one-day cricket against
Sussex in the
Benson & Hedges Cup. In his next one-day appearance against
Worcestershire in the
2001 Norwich Union League, he took three wickets, including that of
Graeme Hick, for the cost of 31 runs, in addition to hitting the winning runs. He made two further one-day appearances in 2001 in the Norwich Union League, against
Essex and
Middlesex. He did not play for Hampshire again and was released at the end of the season, alongside
John Stephenson. ==References==