No reason why Durham cannot challenge this year, says Ned
club, but also the region.
"To be given the responsibility to lead the four-day team is a huge one in this shortened version of the season.
“I always look for a team that is extremely competitive. Idon’twantustobeafraidtobe inascrapofagamewithouropponents and not taking a backwards step.
"I want to let the guys go out there and express themselves.
“We’ve got a talented squad of players and my job is to get the best out of them and make sure they feel comfortable and confident to deliver their best on the field.
"If I can do that and they trust me, I’m confident we’re going to be in a good place.”
Durham host Yorkshire to begin the Bob Willis Trophy, and will play three of their five North Group matches at Emirates Riverside. Eckersley is hopeful that his team can maintain their strong home form from last term to spark a surge towards the crown.
“WewanttomakeEmirates Riverside a very difficult place to come,” he added.
“At the end of last season we started to play some good cricket at home.
"There’s going to be an element of the unknown because of the season starting in August and we don’t know how the wickets are going to play.
“Hopefully we can get into ourstrideandworkoutamethodforsuccessquicklyathome. It’sdefinitelyinourfavourthat we have three home matches and we have to capitalise.
"We have to make sure that whensomeonecomestoEmirates Riverside they get a tough challenge and are under pressure straight away.
“Withtheshortenedseason you’regoingtohavetostartthe season strong. You can’t afford tobeplayingcatchupwithonly twoorthreegamesleft,having to win and rely on others. Unlike other seasons you have to get that fast start to build momentum.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how teams adapt to the conditions. Each team is going to have to figure out the best way and ones that do that the quickest are going to stand out from the rest.”
On facing Division One sides, Eckersley added: “I wouldn’t say we had a point to proveagainstYorkshireoreven Lancashire.
“Division One is the standard of cricket we want to be at. We want to be challenging for the title in Division One – the likes of Yorkshire and Lancashire are the ones that look likelytobetopofthetreeinthe next few years and have been recently.
“We’re excited to be in the North Group to play a few teams that would normally be in Division One. We’ve got a squad that’s capable of playinginthatdivisionandwinning thetitle.Wehavetogooutthere and show it.
“There’s no reason why we cannot challenge this year.”