Di Venuto celebrates title double

Sep 30 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

MICHAEL Di Venuto did not fulfil his potential as an international cricketer but he has no regrets about that following Durham’s County Championship title triumph.

Di Venuto has been one of the most successful Australian imports in the English game following hugely successful spells at Sussex, Derbyshire and Durham.

However, despite scoring more than 21,000 runs in first class cricket, the left-handed opening batsman has never played a Test match, while his one-day international career was confined to just nine games.

The last of those came 11 years ago, but the 34-year-old – who scored more than 1,000 runs for the second successive season at the Riverside – still has plenty of reasons to be proud of what he has achieved having been a major factor in both Tasmania and Durham’s first ever championship wins.

“I had my chances with Australia, but I didn’t make the most of them,” said Di Venuto, who celebrated Tasmania’s maiden Sheffield Shield success last year.

“If you do that in Australian cricket, then there are so many other strong players around, you find that chance has gone.

“I’ve been disappointed about that in the past, but I’ve been around a long time and I have achieved a lot in the game. To win Tasmania’s first title and to do the same thing with Durham a year later is pretty incredible.

“I’ve played first class cricket for 12 months a year for most of my career and I’ve had a pretty good time of it, both in England and back home in Tasmania. “Since I’ve been at Durham we’ve won the Friends Provident Trophy final at Lord’s and now the County Championship. Winning the title is the next best thing to playing Test cricket as far I’m concerned.”

Di Venuto, who decided to stop playing for Tasmania last winter, will have his first break from first class cricket this winter since he signed for Sussex nine years ago.

It is a decision he feels could enable him to prolong his career at Durham for years to come as he pointed to the examples set by the likes of Surrey’s 39-year-old batsman Mark Ramprakash and Worcestershire’s Graeme Hick who has just retired at the age of 42.

He said: “I made the decision to play for just six months because I knew it would help me to play on for Durham for longer than if I was still playing all year round without a break.

“These next six months will give me some time to get over the little niggles which have built up over the last 11 years or so. I’m looking forward to it.

“The Tasmanian lot are pretty keen for me to do some coaching when I get back and I own a cafe in Hobart so I’ll do some work there for a change rather than just sit down drinking and eating all the profits away.

“I’ll have a few weeks of rest to recharge the batteries and then I’ll probably play a bit of grade cricket just to keep my eye in, as it were.

“It’s going to be strange not playing for Tasmania, but it’s the right decision in the long term.”