Burnham building confidence in crease
RISING STAR PLEASED TO REWARD COACHES FOR FAITH AFTER LAY-OFF
JACK Burnham says his game is all about confidence so while Durham were unable to get a shot of self-belief from breaking their Twenty20 duck on Sunday, the 20-year-old’s “good day at the office” was important.
The Riversiders lost a repeat of last year’s final by six wickets to Northamptonshire and are still on minus four points while the northern group leaders each have plus four.
But Burnham’s 53 not out from 41 balls showed he is making progress and a youthful team is heading in the right direction, albeit probably not quickly enough to compete this season.
Burnham more than doubled his previous best score in his fifth Twenty20 outing but despite that Durham’s 161-7 was never enough.
“It’s been a good day at the office for me,” said Burnham, from Esh Winning. “It’s always nice to get runs, especially when you’re coming back from a bit of an injury.
“It’s good the coaches have shown a bit of faith in me and to reward them with runs was a good feeling.
“It’s a tough format to learn. It’s a lot different to four-day cricket and even 50-over cricket. Everything’s at a quicker pace.
“For me it’s all about confidence. How you are mentally is important. If you’re confident you’ll do all right and if you’re not confident you’ve got no chance.”
Burnham and Co were up against Tabraiz Shamsi, a South African leftarm wrist spinner who took 2-20 in his four overs. It did not bother the 20-year-old. “I have actually faced a little bit of that when we went to India with the academy,” said Burnham, who smashed Graeme White and Josh Cobb for big sixes. “He’s a tricky bowler with good skills.
“But I think it’s one of my strengths picking a spinner’s variations so I felt I picked his wrong ‘un straight away.
“I didn’t feel in trouble against him but he bowled well and kept it tight, bowling to good fields. “You couldn’t really take him apart and I felt he bowled well in the situation. He’s a good bowler.” Durham were well placed at 126-3 with five overs to go but Paul Collingwood got out four balls later and they badly missed his calming presence. Burnham said: “It changed for them at the right time. (Collingwood) just relaxes everything. “Just by him being there everything feels under control, you don’t have to panic.” With Ben Duckett’s 72 leading the way, Northamptonshire were strolling but Usman Arshad removed him in a canny spell of death bowling.
If you’re confident you’ll do all right and if you’re not confident you’ve got no chance Jack Burnham
Durham looked more clued-up in the field than they had against Lancashire, even if their fielding was not the strength it should have been.
“Benny (Arshad) bowled really well I thought but Ben Duckett played really well to set a platform and give his team a really good chance to win it,” he said.
“It’s not a good start but I thought this game was a lot better. I thought we had clearer plans and batted with positive intent. There’s only one way it’s going to go and that’s up.
“You’ve got to remember it’s a very young side and Paul is a new captain with not much experience but he’s got a very good knowledge of cricket so I think he’ll do really well.
“The confidence will grow and then you never know, really.”
Durham’s next game is not until the visit of Leicestershire on July 20.