Neil Killeen was a starry-eyed 16-year-old when Durham made their first-class debut in 1992. Now, as the county�..s third beneficiary, he is monitoring the progress of a new generation of youngsters seeking to follow in his footsteps.

And Killeen likes what he sees. �..Ben Harmison, James Lowe and Gary Scott are making an impact as batsmen and we seem to have young bowlers coming out of our ears,�.� says Killeen. �..And there are plenty of younger lads coming through. Geoff Cook has done a fantastic job with the Academy.�.�

For the time being, however, Durham�..s immediate need is to avoid a repeat of the post- Twenty20 slump that threatened to undermine last season�..s promotion drive. Worries were fuelled when a big defeat by Yorkshire was followed by a draw with Middlesex, who topped 500
in their second innings.

�..For some reason Twenty20 seemed to disrupt us last year but I can�..t see it happening again,�.� says Killeen. �..We should probably have won at Lord�..s but it was always going to be difficult to bowl them out a second time on that wicket. In fact, Durham sides of the past might easily have crumbled on the last day. But mentally we are much stronger now.�.�

Wisden Cricketer, Andrew Collomosse