England's Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett are testimony to the quality of Durham’s local talent. And Collingwood, Durham’s first homegrown player to appear for England, is convinced more will follow. “Some of them could be in the same position as us in the next five or six years,” he enthused after a rigorous work-out against academy bowlers before England’s one-dayer at the Riverside.
It is a far cry from Durham’s pioneer days in 1992 when seven
established pros rode north. One of them, Paul Parker, now teaches
classics at Tonbridge School. “It was a fantastic adventure,” he
recalls. “At the end of the previous season I’d been asked to step
down as captain of Sussex and in a way I’m grateful I left because
it gave me the opportunity to join Durham. Old age and creaking
joints eventually caught up with us and with hindsight it was
probably doomed to failure. But that’s not how we saw it; we went
up there to give it a real go.”
Andrew Collomosse, The Wisden Cricketer