Durham cricketer Steve Harmison believes that people are 'small-minded' when it comes to depression within sport.

The 34-year-old, who helped England win the Ashes in 2005, has admitted that he suffered from the mental illness from a young age.

"I was quite happy not to make mine public," Harmison told the Daily Mail. "I had it from an earlier age. If you admit you have it and then have a bad game then people write you off.

"I think we are still a little bit unenlightened with mental illness in sport. Some people will think well how can he be depressed when he has that and he has this and he can go there. Well, that's b*******.

"When you are in the middle of a bad time, you can have a gold credit card and the resources to fly anywhere in the world but if your body and mind doesn't want to go then you are in trouble. The small-mindedness that some people have is still out there."

Fellow cricketer Marcus Trescothick previously admitted that he has had to deal with depression throughout his career.