Disappointment for Durham trio
JON Lewis admits a few players were hard done by not to be involved in Durham’s opening game of the season at Chester-le-Street, which started today.
James Weighell, Graham Clark and Adam Hickey all failed to make the cut when Lewis named his 13-man squad for the County Championship Division Two game against Nottinghamshire and two more were due to be passed over today.
Lwis said: “From when we got back from the pre-season tour of Dubai it was tough,.
“Out there we were using the games to give everyone match practice and since then we have started to think more about the first Championship games and to try and prepare the right people for them.
“That is when it really becomes tricky because that is when players start to realise where they are being assigned.
“It is tough on Weighell, Clark and Hickey but the games we have had here have probably helped to make my mind up.”
Winter signing Cameron Steel has made a strong case to play with halfcenturies in warm-up games against his two previous teams, Middlesex and Durham University.
Yet with fellow opener Stephen Cook all but guaranteed to make his debut after joining as an overseas player Steel’s may depend on Michael Richardson being preferred as wicketkeeper to Stuart Poynter to leave a gap in the middle order.
Stuart Broad misses out for Nottinghamshire, England insisting he is rested ahead of their next Test, which is not until July. They have allowed Keaton Jennings and Mark Wood to play for Durham.
Even without Broad, this will be a big game between the two sides relegated from Division One last year – Nottinghamshire because of their dismal form, the Riversiders because they ran up a £7.5m debt they could not pay off.
Durham are offering £5 entry for adults and free tickets to juniors in the hope of drawing a big crowd.
Membership has gone up this year in a show of support after the England and Wales Cricket Board not only demoted Durham but docked them 48 Championship points for this season – among a range of other measures – in return for paying off around half of their debt.
Durham County Council converted the rest into shares.
Lewis added: “At any stage this would be a big game in the Division Two schedule which was going to register on people’s radars because there are a few top players involved, England players knocking about and two good overseas stars as well.
“I think it was going to be an exciting game whenever it came but the fact it is the first game for us, if not them, adds to it.”
Nottinghamshire are 60 points ahead of their hosts, having started their season a week earlier with a 10-wicket win over Leicestershire.
Lewis said: “It might have a small bearing they are a bit further down the road of being match-hardened.
“The Middlesex game was good for us because they are a pretty strong outfit and we held our own in a two-day game.
“The university game went well for us in terms of being a good runout but the scores suggest it was not quite as tough as it might have been.
“The two days against Middlesex will have done us a favour in terms of where the markers need to be.”