FLIRTING with relegation has put Durham back on track and ready to progress again, according to chairman Clive Leach.

A strong end to the 2012 season saw the Riversiders finish sixth in the County Championship, but a poor start meant they had to work very hard just for that.

Durham failed to win any of their first 10 Championship matches, prompting a change of captaincy from Phil Mustard to Paul Collingwood.

Leach said: “I don’t think we were complacent but I think it made people sit down again and think again.

“We had two or three really big pow-wows in the middle of the season in my office with the team. They were much more concerned than I was.

“In the second half of the year we ran off four successive victories, which is extremely difficult in the County Championship, and another one on top of that.

“Five wins is as many as anyone got, apart from the winners Warwickshire

“We beat two of the top teams too.

“They know that’s where they are – right at the top – and that’s where they have to stay.”