Durham stick to winning plan

Mar 12 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

DURHAM will plot this summer’s campaign from the country where the seeds of last season’s historic success were sown.

Head coach Geoff Cook felt the work done on the pre-season tour of Cape Town was instrumental in winning the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy and Pro40 League Division Two, as well as finishing second in Division One of the County Championship. So they will return to South Africa this year, albeit to the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre.

Durham fly out on Friday, March 28, for a 10-day tour which will include two one-day matches against Highveld Lions, for whom Liam Plunkett and Steve Harmison played this winter. Captain Dale Benkenstein will join the team in his homeland but Harmison, Paul Collingwood and Phil Mustard will be with England.

Michael Di Venuto will not take part in the tour but could play in the warm-up games against Yorkshire at Headingley, while overseas player Neil McKenzie is expected to be available for the start of the season proper.

ITINERARY: April 1: Johannesburg University, April 3: Johannesburg University, April 5: Highveld Lions, April 7: Highveld Lions, April 10: Yorkshire, April 11: Yorkshire (both at Headingley).

DURHAM SQUAD: Benkenstein (c), Breese, Claydon, Coetzer, Davies, Evans, Gidman, Goddard (wk), B Harmison, Killeen, G Muchall, Onions, Park, Plunkett, Scott, Smith, Stoneman, Thorp, Wiseman.