Lewis left embarrassed by Durham’s humiliation

Durham head coach Jon Lewis admited he was ‘embarrassed’ by his side’s display as they suffered double humiliation in their defeat against Leicestershire yesterday.

Durham were bowled out twice in just two sessions, registering their two lowest scores in first-class cricket as they collapsed to an ignominious innings defeat on a truly extraordinary day’s cricket in their Specsavers County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground.

The visitors were unable to cope with the bowling of Pakistan international seamer Mohammad Abbas, who took 5-43 in Durham’s first innings and 5-29 in the second, giving him match figures of 10-52.

And Lewis insisted he had left the Durham dressing room under no illusions about how he felt about the worst display in their history.

“There’s no hiding from a performance like that, it was not good enough in any department,” he said.

“It’s not the first time a single bowler in his opening spell has blown apart our innings this season, but for Mohammad Abbas to do that twice in consecutive sessions, I’m struggling to find the words, it was just unacceptable.

“No one in our dressing room has been left in any doubt about how unhappy I am.

“It was embarrassing, and that’s not a word I’ve had to use before, and I’ve been pretty angry on occasions, but unfortunately it is approriate.”

With the strong wind behind him, moving the ball both ways and bowling with outstanding accuracy, Abbas proved all but unplayable by one of the division’s weaker batting line-ups.

With fellow seamers Neil Dexter, Ben Mike and Gavin Griffiths all offering excellent support, Durham had no answers, their 20 wickets falling in just 52.3 overs.