38.sportintramural
Tuesday 6 May 2014
The Courier
Durham Cricket to continue
With a mixture of old hands, new blood and a legendary Sri Lankan,
By Freddie Caldwell at The Riverside Ground “We’re from the North, we go to the bar for a beer. The other team aren’t allowed to do that”. The atmosphere around Durham County Cricket Club is unlike almost anything else in the world of professional sport, but it works. Last year’s County Champions go into the new season with high expectations and as “marked men”, but this doesn’t appear to be causing an undue amount of stress at the club. After spending the build up to the season soaking up the sun (and playing a bit of cricket) in Abu Dhabi, the team are now back in the UK and have enjoyed a solid start to the season,
old all-rounder is a vital player for the Durham side, not only for his stoical batting, troublesome medium pace and outstanding fielding, but for the experience which he is able to pass on to his young teammates. Along with Mustard in the batting department and Onions in the bowling, Durham are not short of talismanic figures. Although all of the players are keen to stress that their focus is on Durham, it would be naïve to suggest that they are not thinking about the England side as their end goal. Graham Onions is a player who knows what it is like to be a part of the test side but suffered huge disappointment last year when he was not selected for the Ashes side. Having spoken to the then coach Andy Flower and captain Alistair
Mustard recounts: “When I first came on the scene, the fridge in the dressing room was full of beers...” drawing their first two games. According to fast bowler Graham Onions, this year’s team is “a blend of youth and experience”. There has certainly been a large influx of young players into the squad over the last few years, largely as a result of the departure of experienced bowlers such as Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett in recent seasons. However, the club’s academy has recently produced several players that have the potential to go on and play for England; some already have such as Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick. Whilst these players should help the team continue their strong form in the County Championship, there is also a hope that they can improve their results in the shorter form of the game. Batsmen Mark Stoneman has been announced as the ‘white ball captain’ for this season, meaning that he will take charge of the one-day and Twenty20 competitions. Experienced batsmen Phil Mustard believes that the way the team is set up this year should suit these shorter formats as they are able to bat down to eight or nine. Another knowledgeable voice comes from the four-day captain and former England international Paul Collingwood. Having recently returned from a coaching role with England at the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, the 37 year-
Cook, Onions was told that they were looking for taller players, which was a “massive shame” from his side. He admits: “it took a while to move on because I wanted it so badly” and he believed that his performances were good enough. He has always been a prolific wicket taker for Durham, particularly at their Riverside ground at Chester-LeStreet, which tends to be favourable to seam bowling. The statistics speak for themselves; he has taken 438 first class wickets at an average of 25.94. Onions is hopeful that if his performances are good enough then he will be in the England team for the first test against Sri Lanka. However, he is not the only player with England aspirations as many of the younger members of the squad also harbour ambitions of being involved. Someone who has already made the jump is Ben Stokes who was one of the few players to emerge with any credit from the disastrous winter Ashes tour. He received less credit for his performances in the subsequent ODI series in the West Indies where he injured his wrist by punching a locker after getting out. This injury has ruled him out of Durham’s early season games and he is due for another scan in the next week or so.
Another young player in the England frame is Scott Borthwick who, along with Onions, recently toured Sri Lanka with the England Lions. Despite this experience, Borthwick insists that he is “not looking too far ahead” and is focusing on this season with Durham, even if it is not the best ground for his spin bowling. He insists: “it all depends on the weather. Even the Riverside does spin if it’s dry and hot”. Durham also have young fast bowlers such as Mark Wood but he also plays down his chances of playing for England in the near future. He said that he “wouldn’t put a timescale on getting into the England setup. The ambition is to get there eventually”. Although some members of the Durham team are evidently committed to getting into the England side, they all seem happy in the environment of their county team. This is hardly surprising when you speak to the players who
have been there for many years such as Phil Mustard who paints a great picture of club spirit and unity. The County Championship is very much a marathon and not a sprint, a fact that is acknowledged at Durham, and aside from being allowed into the
came on the scene, the fridge in the dressing room was full of beers, then it all changed, all this health food stuff. You need to eat healthily but you can go over the top, we just said that we’re not kids, we got that changed”. Although the beer consumption is
Durham’s approach is still somewhat different to the ECB’s bar after the games, there are plenty of other ways in which the players are encouraged to relax. They make sure that they don’t spend too much time together over the winter; otherwise there is a danger that “people get sick of each other” according to Mustard. The team’s attitude has definitely undergone a few changes over the years as Mustard recounts: “When I first
probably down on what it once was, the attitude is still very different to the majority of professional sports clubs. Part of that is due to the nature of cricket as a sport; physical fitness is obviously important but perhaps not to the same extent as in other disciplines. However, Durham’s approach is still somewhat different to the ECB’s so some of the players may be in for a
CHAMPAGNE TIME: The Durham team celebrate winning the 2013 County Championship. Image: Getty