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May 1, 2008
Plunkett hit by injury blow
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in Durham
Liam Plunkett, the Durham quick bowler, could be out of action for as long as six weeks after picking up a side strain.
It is a blow for Plunkett who has been trying to re-establish himself among the next batch of England quick bowlers after slipping off the international radar since last summer.
April 29, 2008
Journalists get on their bike
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago in Miscellaneous
How do you get from the Brit Oval to Lord's without crossing the Thames? Six intrepid cyclists are about to prove it can be done and all in a good cause.
They are cycling from Kennington to St John's Wood the long way round, taking in all 18 first-class county headquarters - a trip of more than 1,000 miles over 16 days.
The tour has been devised by two cricket writers who spend most of their time pedalling opinions on the game: David Lloyd of the London Evening Standard and Colin Bateman of the Daily Express.
Continue reading "Journalists get on their bike"
March 11, 2008
Durham head to South Africa
Posted on 03/11/2008 in Durham
Durham will embark on their pre-season tour to South Africa on Friday March 28, returning to the Riverside on Wednesday April 9.
The team, along with head coach Geoff Cook, will spend ten days at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria where they will train and play four one day games. Two matches will be played against Johannesburg University and the other two games will see Durham face Highveld Lions, where Liam Plunkett and Stephen Harmison both spent some
time in the winter months.
Upon their return to the UK the team will face Yorkshire in two one-day matches at Headingley on Thursday April 10 and Friday 11. "Our pre season preparation is massively important and will definitely stand us in good stead for the start of the season,” Cook said. “Expectations will undoubtedly be high so it's a great opportunity for the squad to get together to discuss our aims and objectives for 2008."
March 7, 2008
Cancer Tests for England cricketers
Posted on 03/07/2008 in Miscellaneous
All first-class cricketers in England will be tested for skin cancer this season. In an initiative by the Professional Cricketers Association about 400 players will have checks for the disease.
November 10, 2007
Mustard and Coetzer extend Durham contracts
Posted on 11/10/2007 in Durham
Phil Mustard and Kyle Coetzer have signed one-year contract extensions with Durham. Mustard, the England keeper-batsman, will stay with Durham until 2010. The batsman Coetzer was Durham's Young Player of the Year.
Durham 's head coach Geoff Cook, said: "I'm delighted that Phil and Kyle have extended their contracts with us. They have both been involved with the Club from a young age and it's great to have them with us as we continue to move forward."
The club's chief executive David Harker added: “Kyle and Phil have definitely benefited from the set-up here and we look forward to continuing to support their development."
September 30, 2007
Durham honoured with civic receptions
Posted on 09/30/2007 in Durham
Durham CCC will be honoured with civic receptions by Chester-le-Street District Council and Durham County Council on Monday 1 October.
The club, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary, is being honoured following the team’s most successful season yet which includes winning their first piece of silverware after beating Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy Final at Lord’s in August, and their promotion to Division 1 in the Pro40 as Champions.
The schedule is as follows:
1.00pm Party arrive at the Civic Heart, Chester le Street
1.45pm Party departs
2.15pm Party arrives at County Hall, County Durham
September 19, 2007
Time for salary caps?
Posted on 09/19/2007 in
A fascinating report in The Guardian looks into how county cricket pays for itself… if it does… and whether or not salary capping is a good idea.
August 21, 2007
Get snappy with the Friends Provident Trophy
Posted on 08/21/2007 in Durham
The Friends Provident Trophy will be on display at the Riverside this weekend at both of Durham’s Pro40 matches. Durham take on Leicestershire on Sunday, August 26, and then their local rivals Yorkshire on Bank Holiday Monday.
The silverware will be on display in the foyer of the Media Centre from 12.45pm until the end of the lunch interval so spectators can bring their cameras along and take their photo next to Durham's first trophy.
Continue reading "Get snappy with the Friends Provident Trophy"
August 14, 2007
England players available for Lord's final
Posted on 08/14/2007 in
Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Chris Tremlett will be available to their respective counties for the Friends Provident Trophy Final between Durham and Hampshire at Lord’s on Saturday.
The other England players who appeared in the third Test will be unavailable for domestic cricket, as will those in the one-day squad will be rested from domestic cricket until the one-day series starts next Tuesday.
Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss will be rested from the next round of Championship matches which start on Tuesday, but will be available to their counties for the remainder of the season.
July 23, 2007
Some county players earn less than minimum wage
Posted on 07/23/2007 in Miscellaneous
In The Sunday Telegraph , Steve James highlights the disparity between the high earners in English cricket and those at the bottom of the food chain.
The Professional Cricketers' Association estimates that a cricketer works about 50 hours a week (including play, travel, training and time spent away from home). This means, in broad terms, that a player needs to earn more than £7,000 per season to be over the minimum wage. There are definitely players earning less than that; indeed there are players earning as little as £3,000 per season.
July 13, 2007
Durham alter dates
Posted on 07/13/2007 in Durham
Durham's Championship match against Surrey at Chester-le-Street has been scheduled to start a day earlier than advertised due to Durham's involvement in the Friends Provident Trophy Final on August 18.
The fixture, which was scheduled to start on August, will now start on August 13 to allow the team to travel to London in advance of their match at Lord's.The scheduled hours of play remain unchanged.
Subsequently, Durham's Pro40 match against Somerset at Taunton has been rescheduled to take place on August 23 instead of its original allocated date of August 19.
June 4, 2007
Durham seek Test volunteers
Posted on 06/04/2007 in Durham
Durham are urging anyone with a few hours free between Friday 15 and Sunday 17 June to help give visitors to Chester-le-Street for the third Test the best
possible welcome.
The Welcome Project will guide visitors from the Chester-le-Street train
station and the town centre down to the Riverside stadium. Volunteers
will be responsible for giving directions, local information and flyers
to the thousands of fans who will be passing through the town centre.
Continue reading "Durham seek Test volunteers"
October 17, 2006
Free fall after the frolics
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Durham
What is it about Durham and Twenty20? Last year they went into the competition as promotion favourites on the back of five Championship wins. The second half of the season yielded only a single win as they staggered over the finishing line. The pattern was repeated this year. There was little talk of relegation after three wins in the first eight games but again they went into free fall, with one win and four defeats after Twenty20. They escaped the drop by half a point – thanks to a gutsy rearguard action in a rain-affected draw with Yorkshire and Notts’ ineptitude against Sussex. But they returned to the second division of the one-day league despite beating champions Essex on the last day. Durham can ill afford to lose three players – Steve Harmison, Paul Collingwood and Liam Plunkett – to England, with the possibility of a fourth in Graham Onions. But the bottom line is that, apart from the captain Dale Benkenstein, the batting was patchy and the bowling (not helped by injuries to pacemen Ottis Gibson and Mark Davies) no better.
Andrew Collomosse The Wisden Cricketer
October 10, 2006
di venuto joins Durham
Posted on 10/10/2006 in Durham
Michael di Venuto has joined Durham as their only overseas player for the 2007 season. di Venuto left Derbyshire at the end of the recent summer and will replace Jimmy Maher in the north east.
From 2008 counties will only be able to field one overseas player but Martyn Moxon, the Durham coach, says the club's position is open to review next season.
Will Smith, the former Nottinghamshire batsman, has also joined the club as has Mitchell Claydon, who was recently released by Yorkshire. Will Gidman, the brother of Alex, has also become part of the squad.
"The decision to go for one overseas player at the start of the season is primarily made to give our young talent the opportunity they have earned," said Moxon. "Playing two overseas players reduces the chances our emerging players get to develop their skills."
September 19, 2006
Run-makers wanted
Posted on 09/19/2006 in Durham
Martyn Moxon has compiled a wish-list of batsmen to solve Durham’s problems at the top of the order. Apart from Dale Benkenstein and, to a lesser extent, Phil Mustard Durham’s batsmen have underachieved. And Moxon has wielded the axe, releasing Jon Lewis, Gary Pratt and James Lowe, along with the left-arm spinner Graeme Bridge.
Ben Harmison has staked a credible claim for promotion from the ranks but Durham will need to recruit over the winter if they are to realise Moxon’s dream of challenging for silverware in 2007. An overseas opener will be top priority and, ideally, Mike Hussey would return. But Australia will probably have other ideas.
Jimmy Maher’s century in the important win over Warwickshire improved his chances of a contract for 2007 but Moxon will be looking at homegrown options,too. Matthew Wood, who played under Moxon at Yorkshire, is rumoured to be looking about after losing his place to Joe Sayers and could be a target after missing out on Will Jefferson. But the coach is giving nothing away. “We have one or two irons in the fire and, if we can’t find English players, we will look elsewhere.”
Andrew Collomosse, The Wisden Cricketer
September 3, 2006
Ol' pro eyes
Posted on 09/03/2006 in Durham
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
August 24, 2006
Mick Lewis reprimanded for outburst
Posted on 08/24/2006 in Durham
Mick Lewis, the Australia fast bowler playing for Durham, has been reprimanded for an outburst during their Championship match against Sussex last week.
He was found guilty of using obscene, offensive or insulting language and the penalty will remain on the seamer's record for a further two years.
Lewis reprimand
Posted on 08/24/2006 in Durham
The ECB have confirmed that Mick Lewis, the Durham seamer, has received a reprimand following an incident during Durham’s County Championship match against Sussex.
Lewis was reported by the umpires Nigel Llong and Neil Bainton for a level one breach of the code (using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting).
The penalty remains on Lewis’s record for a period of two years. Any further level one breach during that period will result in an automatic imposition of three penalty points.
August 4, 2006
Schofield still looking for a way back
Posted on 08/04/2006 in Surrey
Chris Schofield, the former England and Lancashire legspinner, is playing for Surrey in their 2nd XI match against Durham at Guildford. He was released by Lancashire at the end of 2004 and since then has been playing for Suffolk in the Minor Counties Championship, as well as turning out for Durham and Surrey second teams.
"It's a bit of a reality check and frustrating because I've played at a very high level but I'm just relieved that counties are still giving me the opportunity to get a contract," Schofield, who is now 27, told the BBC. "The last two years I've been bowling a hell of a lot of overs, 30 to 40 a week - the last two years at Lancashire I bowled 50 to 100 overs a season.
"The first step at the moment is to try to get a county contract, bowl the way I have been doing the last couple of months and take it from there."
July 31, 2006
Local uprising
Posted on 07/31/2006 in Durham
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
July 30, 2006
Players thrive on steep earning curve
Posted on 07/30/2006 in Derbyshire
Steve James, the former Glamorgan and England opener, has revealed that the average salary for a county player is around £40,000. Surrey top the pay league, with their players earning an average salary of £60,000, and that excludes the bumper earnings of their overseas recruits. Yorkshire are at the bottom of the pay league, with an average salary of £30,000.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, James's article has gone a long way to dispelling the belief that county cricketers are sports paupers. While they still might to be able to hold a candle to any footballers in the Premier League, their pay is not as bad as it once was.
Click here for the full story.
June 30, 2006
Durham and Lancashire unchanged
Posted on 06/30/2006 in Durham
Durham and Lancashire are unchanged for their Twenty20 match tonight at the Riverside. There are still tickets available, which can be bought on the gate from 4pm.
Tickets are £15 for adults and £5 for under-18s. The gates will open at 4pm, with play starting at 6pm.
June 20, 2006
Video nasty
Posted on 06/20/2006 in Durham
Durham are not the first side to fall under the spell of Mushtaq Ahmed. Nor will they be the last. But their coach Martyn Moxon declines to blame his side’s two-day innings defeat by Sussex on a well-documented failure to obtain pre-match video footage of Mushtaq.
Had the proposed ECB video library been up and running, Durham could have studied their destroyers Mushtaq and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan before the game. Instead the pair took 19 wickets, with Mushtaq baffling all with his googly and top-spinner. “It would have been useful to have a look,” says Moxon. “The ECB have spent a lot of money for every county to video matches. Every game will be held in a central bank and we will all have access to it.”
Mushtaq, of course, has played 52 Tests and first appeared on the county scene 13 years ago, so he is hardly an unknown quantity. “Look, we’re not making excuses,” says Moxon. “After all, we had a good look at him in the first innings and didn’t do any better in the second.”
Andrew Collomosse, The Wisden Cricketer
June 16, 2006
Stockton avoid pitch penalty
Posted on 06/16/2006 in Durham
An ECB Pitch Panel comprising David Hughes (Pitch Liaison Officer) and Alan Fordham (Head of Operations – First-Class Cricket) convened yesterday to consider the pitch used for Durham and Kent's Championship match at Stockton Cricket Club this week.
After interviewing the match Umpires, the captain and coach of both teams and the head groundsman at Stockton CC, the panel decided that the pitch should be rated “below average”.
As a consequence, no points penalty were applied.
June 2, 2006
Harmsion mark II
Posted on 06/02/2006 in Durham
Ben Harmison struck a century on his first-class debut against Durham UCCE. The brother of England paceman, Steve, Ben was part of a young Durham team that took on the students. He came in at No. 3 and he took 121 balls to reach his ton.
The last Durham player to score a century on his first class debut was John Glendenen who scored 117 against Oxford at The Parks in 1992.
The head coach Martyn Moxon said: “It’s great for Ben to have scored a century on his debut. He’s been working very hard throughout the season and today’s performance is thoroughly deserved.”
April 12, 2006
Harmison junior could shine
Posted on 04/12/2006 in Durham
Steve Harmison has said that his younger brother Ben could make his mark with the county this season.
"Ben's joined the staff and hopefully he can force his way in. By all reports he had a good tour of Dubai and I think he's ready to put his name in the shake-up for the first game," he told Sky Sports. "If he knuckles down there's a spot open because he bats and bowls and Paul Collingwood's away. If he gets a chance, he'll relish it and do a good job for the club."
Riverside's Ashes ambitions
Posted on 04/12/2006 in Durham
The Ashes do not return to the UK for over three years but Durham have set their sights on the 2009 series to host a Test. They have
made a bid that includes a West Indies Test in 2007 and an ODI between England and South Africa in 2008.
“Last year the Ashes captured the imagination of the nation, not least here in the North-East with Stephen Harmison’s and Paul Collingwood’s
involvement,” says Durham chairman Clive Leach. “It’s our intention to bring one of the greatest sporting events to the Riverside”
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