Pace ace Chris in a huge Rush to play again

CHRIS Rushworth is desperate to get back out in the middle against Leicestershire after a frustrating start to Durham’s Specsavers County Championship Division Two campaign.

Durham were hammered in their first match of the season, losing by nine wickets to Kent inside two days at Emirates Riverside.

They were then denied the opportunity to bounce back from their defeat as their clash with Northamptonshire was washed out without a ball being bowled at Wantage Road.

Rushworth and his team-mates were hampered by the weather in the build-up to the new campaign, exacerbated by their lack of game time to start the new term.

He said: “It was very frustrating. When you are beaten as badly as we did against Kent you want to rectify it as quickly as possible.

“We were meant to be playing a Northants side which was struggling so we felt as though as we had a good chance to pick up a positive result.

“Going down there and never looking like bowling a ball was hard work and very frustrating.

“It is a long four days when you are in a small town like Northampton.

“You want to bowl and get into a rhythm as quickly as possible.

“When you start bowling you want to keep your overs up and your workload high you get through it a lot better.

“When you are stopping and starting you never feel in a rhythm.

“As a bowler you want to feel comfortable and four days of not being able to bowl and getting through things is frustrating.”

Durham sit bottom of Division Two after their first two matches.

Today’s opponents Leicestershire are also winless, having drawn against Sussex and Derbyshire in their two contests.

However, paceman Rushworth has insisted Durham cannot place further pressure on themselves to climb the table to get back into contention, especially against an experienced outfit.

He added: “The guys want to do well but we cannot put too much pressure on ourselves to do something remarkable.

“It is still a long season ahead. We just have to try and improve from the Kent game, which to be honest does not take an awful lot.

“Guys are desperate to try and spend time in the middle and score runs, equally with the ball we are aiming to try and take wickets as quickly as possible.”