DURHAM secured a third County Championship title in six seasons after skipper Paul Collingwood and his ferocious bowling attack produced a storming second half of the season.
The campaign included a club-record five consecutive wins as Durham defied the doubters to rack up 10 top-flight victories, three more than any other team.
But, despite opening with a win against Somerset, England's most northerly county cricket club actually suffered a rather sleepy start to the season.
Well-beaten away against Warwickshire, captain Collingwood was stunned when Yorkshire successfully chased down a target of 336 to make it two defeats out of three.
Yorkshire reached their mammoth total thanks in no small part to Joe Root who hit 182 - and put himself in prime position for an Ashes call-up.
Durham responded well, with impressive consecutive away wins at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire and the Oval against struggling Surrey.
But that progress was checked by successive draws in a rain-affected match against Middlesex and on a typically flat track at Taunton against Somerset.
Safely nestled in mid-table, Durham had already defied the bookmakers and many preview writers who had put them down as favourites for relegation. No one was thinking much about the title, though.
Then, in a remarkable game of twists and turns at the Riverside, Durham avenged their early-season defeat to Warwickshire, sneaking home by just 11 runs.
Requiring 257 to complete the double, an eighth-wicket stand between Jeetan Patel and Ateeq Javid had brought the target within 25 runs.
But Graham Onions and Ben Stokes combined to remove the final three wickets just in time.
For the next match, Onions was away on England duty, of sorts, but it mattered not.
Derbyshire had found the season tough going so the last thing they needed was to face Chris Rushworth on his 27th birthday and in the form of his life.
Rushworth finished with match figures of 10-103 as a crushing victory set up Durham for a late-season tilt at the title.
First, though, Durham failed twice with the bat to go down to defeat inside three days at Middlesex - though this was probably their toughest match left on the fixture list.
A home match next against Surrey was ideal, and - still without Onions - two young bowlers Jamie Harrison and Mark Wood hit their stride, each taking a five-wicket haul in the two separate innings.
In doing that, they set up the biggest win of the season - by an innings and 144 runs - as Durham headed to the North Yorkshire coast in fine spirits.
The match against Yorkshire at the out-ground in Scarborough was absolutely pivotal to the season as a whole.
The two northern rivals had become the primary challengers for the Championship crown - although, with Yorkshire ahead by 25 points going into the contest, Durham were undoubtedly more desperate for the result.
Things started badly for Durham who found themselves 5-2 inside the first three overs but a trio of centuries from Stokes (127), Mark Stoneman (120) and Michael Richardson (102) contributed to a massive total of 573.
Yorkshire crumbled under the scoreboard pressure with nine wickets and a run out shared equally between Rushworth, Harrison, Stokes, Wood and the excellent Scott Borthwick.
Asked to follow-on, the White Rose county made a much better job of it second time around, Phil Jacques hitting 152 to bring the draw back into the equation.
But a second collapse on the final day saw Yorkshire slump from 283-1 to 419 all out, leaving Durham enough time to chase a target of 121.
Borthwick starred with the bat, scoring 65 off 85 balls, as Durham delivered a huge statement of intent by collecting maximum points from a very tough match.
Just three days later, Collingwood's men went top for the first time, beating the Championship's early pace-setters Sussex inside three days as Onions picked up seven wickets in the match on his return.
Then, Midlands pair Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire were well and truly routed by the Durham bowlers.
First, Derbyshire looked to be putting up some kind of fight as Durham achieved only a 27-run lead on first innings.
But Onions then took 5-23 in the second innings, including a spell of 5-4 in 41 balls, for match figures of 9-85. Derbyshire were out for 63, and Durham were on the brink.
The title came at home and it came in style. This time, the wickets were more shared out - three each for Onions, Rushworth and Harrison, and one for another impressive youngster Usman Arshad - but the result was the same: Nottinghamshire were all out for 78.
With Durham 45-5 in reply, meaning 15 wickets had fallen in the first 48 overs of the match, a mandatory pitch inspection - and possible points deduction - became a real danger.
However, Collingwood put the acceptable quality of the pitch in perspective, combining with his predecessor as captain, Phil Mustard, in a stand of 121.
Nottinghamshire, too, batted better in their second innings but their total of 246 still left Durham only 69 runs to chase.
There was one over left in the day - and the possibility of eight more - when Stoneman and his fellow opener Keaton Jennings took to the crease.
But, despite a bright, sunny evening, Collingwood was aware that - with two days left in the game - there was no need to rush.
Durham declined the option of taking the extra overs, returning instead for a third day which was free to attend for spectators.
Rain delayed the start of play but, Durham were not to be denied - and the celebrations were in full flow by 2.30pm after Stoneman had knocked off the winning runs.
In their final match, the newly-crowned champions lost to Sussex in Hove by six wickets for only a second Championship defeat since the end of April.
Indeed, since Collingwood's appointment, Durham have won 14 County Championship matches out of 22, a record which has taken the club from winless and bottom of the league in July 2012 to champions in September 2013.
Following their battle of survival last year, little was expected of Durham in this campaign - and, although many pundits are now wiping egg of their face, their low expectations were understandable.
For a start, Durham began the season with a deduction of 2.5 points for breaking salary cap regulations in 2012 and ongoing financial problems even left them going cap in hand to the county council for help.
There was no chance of being able to afford an overseas player and a budget pre-season featured a climb up Ben Dubh near Loch Lomond to build fitness.
By the middle of the season, things were looking worse again. The club's all-time leading run scorer Dale Benkenstein had succumbed to a shoulder injury and, more catastrophically still, the club's long-serving director of cricket, Geoff Cook, suffered a cardiac arrest while out running on a towpath adjoining the Riverside.
Cook spent five days in an induced coma and had to watch the rest of the season unfold from afar. But Collingwood, a three-time Ashes-winning hero, stood firm.
The 37-year-old is a local captain of a team with its roots very much wedded to the north east. Gateshead-born Onions went to my secondary school in Blaydon, while Borthwick, Stoneman, Mustard and Rushworth all hail from the north east too.
Meanwhile, the likes of Stokes, Harrison and Arshad may be from further afield but all of them rose through the ranks of the Durham Academy.
It is all so far removed from Durham's early years in the County Championship.
At just 21 years old, the north easterners are still its newest members - and, in the first seven seasons, never finished above 14th out of 18 teams, thrice finishing bottom.
In 1999, the English Cricket Board decided to split the Championship into two divisions and, amazingly, Durham finished eighth to make it into the top flight of the split.
Inevitably, though, Durham were immediately relegated and then spent five seasons milling about the second division before promotion in 2005.
A remarkable final-day survival in 2006 saw Durham finish just half a point above the champions from the previous season, Nottinghamshire, who were promptly relegated.
Then, in 2007, Durham won their first major trophy, thrashing Hampshire by 125 runs in the final of the 50-over Friends Provident trophy at Lord's.
Better was to come with remarkable back-to-back successes in the County Championship in 2008 and 2009 while, off the pitch, the Riverside has been developed into a ground of international stature, culminating in it hosting the fourth Test of this summer's Ashes series.
It is not too much to say that none of this would have been achievable without the foresight and ambition of Cook - and Collingwood was quick to acknowledge that.
"I know every man in the dressing room wanted to do it for Geoff," said Collingwood.
"For Durham to win the title three times in 21 years – many good players don't win it at all – a lot of it has to go down to Geoff."
Cook, who has said he will re-evaluate his future at the end of the season, is nevertheless on the mend - but, even if he does retire, he leaves Durham in fine shape - on and off the field.
MATCH-BY-MATCH Durham's March to the Championship
WLLWWDDWWLWWWWWL
| Dates | Fixture | Venue | Result | Points | Total |
| 10-13 April | Somerset (H) | Riverside | won by 42 runs | 18.5 | - |
| 17-20 April | Warwickshire (A) | Edgbaston | lost by 318 runs | 5 | 23.5 |
| 24-27 April | Yorkshire (H) | Riverside | lost by four wickets | 4 | 27.5 |
| 29 Apr-2 May | Nottinghamshire (A) | Trent Bridge | won by six wickets | 22 | 49.5 |
| 10-13 May | Surrey (A) | The Oval | won by five wickets | 21 | 70.5 |
| 22-25 May | Middlesex (H) | Riverside | drawn | 8 | 78.5 |
| 6-9 June | Somerset (A) | Taunton | drawn | 9 | 87.5 |
| 12-14 June | Warwickshire (H) | Riverside | won by 11 runs | 21 | 108.5 |
| 8-11 July | Derbyshire (H) | Riverside | won by 279 runs | 21 | 129.5 |
| 2-4 August | Middlesex (A) | Lord's | lost by six wickets | 3 | 132.5 |
| 22-25 August | Surrey (H) | Riverside | won by an innings and 144 | 23 | 155.5 |
| 28-31 August | Yorkshire (A) | Scarborough | won by seven wickets | 24 | 179.5 |
| 3-5 Sep | Sussex (H) | Riverside | won by 285 runs | 20 | 199.5 |
| 11-14 Sep | Derbyshire (A) | Derby | won by nine wickets | 22 | 221.5 |
| 17-19 Sep | Nottinghamshire (H) | Riverside | won by eight wickets | 21 | 242.5 |
| 24-27 Sep | Sussex (A) | Hove | lost by six wickets | 3 | 245.5 |
Clydesdale Bank Pro40 Finished fourth out of seven in group stage (W7 L4 NR0)
Friends Life T20 lost in QF to Northamptonshire by 36 runs. Finished third in group (W6 L4)
FINAL STANDINGS County Championship Division One
| Pos | Team | W | L | D | Bat | Bowl | Points |
| 1 | DURHAM | 10 | 4 | 2 | 36 | 46 | 245.5* |
| 2 | Yorkshire | 7 | 2 | 7 | 49 | 39 | 221 |
| 3 | Sussex | 5 | 3 | 8 | 45 | 39 | 188 |
| 4 | Warwickshire | 5 | 2 | 9 | 37 | 42 | 186 |
| 5 | Middlesex | 6 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 39 | 182 |
| 6 | Somerset | 3 | 5 | 8 | 33 | 41 | 146 |
| 7 | Nottinghamshire | 2 | 5 | 9 | 47 | 40 | 146 |
| 8 (R) | Derbyshire | 3 | 10 | 3 | 31 | 34 | 122 |
| 9 (R) | Surrey | 1 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 37 | 116 |
Promoted from County Championship Division Two Lancashire, Northamptonshire
Points scoring in the County Championship (max 24 points)
Win 16 Draw 3 Loss 0
Batting
200-249 runs - 1 point
250-299 runs - 2 points
300-349 runs - 3 points
350-399 runs - 4 points
400+ runs - 5 points
Bowling
3-5 wickets - 1 point
6-8 wickets - 2 points
9-10 wickets - 3 points
Batting/Bowling points apply for first 110 overs of the first innings only
No comments:
Post a Comment