Durham attack in line for stiff test
Apr 28 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal
SEAM bowling and squad depth are the factors which could take the County Championship trophy back from whence it came this summer.
It might only be the second match of Durham’s defence, but the next four days will see world-class batsmen, a benign pitch and the absence of two key members of their attack put those qualities to the test.
Durham travelled to Somerset yesterday without the man who topped their bowling averages last year, Mark Davies – still nursing the foot injury picked up on England Lions duty this winter – or Liam Plunkett, who will be aiming to give his international ambitions another firm push this week.
With Stephen Harmison this week hoping to get the nod to face the West Indies, bowling Durham back to the title they won last year will be a team effort.
“Numerically we’re well off (for seam bowlers) and it’s up to the players to recognise the level of performance needed,” said coach Geoff Cook. “If we’re going to have competition for places, we need everyone performing well and pushing each other.”
The phrase “world-class” is horrendously over-used in sport, but the Test records of Australian Justin Langer and Englishman Marcus Trescothick are perhaps worthy of it. They will be aided by the Taunton pitch and assisted by James Hildreth, who scored 303 not out on it in a match aggregate of 1,280 for 15 against Warwickshire.
“They’ve got some really experienced cricketers like Langer, Charl Willoughby and Trescothick, allied to some good young talent like Craig Kieswetter and James Hildreth,” warned Cook. “It’s a good combination and they’re very competitive under Langer, who’s a world-class cricketer and has a typical Australian mentality.”
Five wickets in last week’s draw with Yorkshire suggest Graham Onions is ready to shoulder his share of the burden. This time last year the fast bowler’s England credentials were being scrutinised until injury, inconsistency and the form of others stunted his progress.
“He bowled some good stuff against the MCC, and again in the Yorkshire match,” Cook noted.
“He worked very hard over the winter at one or two little things and it seems to be paying off.”
While Durham – and a brief shower – let Yorkshire off the hook at Chester-le-Street, a first competitive four-day workout of 2009 did more good than harm.
“There were lots of positives in terms of individual performances – Gordon Muchall scoring his 50, Liam Plunkett finding a bit of rhythm, Phil Mustard playing really well with the bat and the gloves, Ian Blackwell’s batting, Michael Di Venuto’s century – and that’s before the efforts of Graham Onions on the final day,” said Cook.
“The whole four days were hard-fought, as most of the games in this division are. To win a four-day cricket game, you need lots of things to go in your favour, and on Saturday the weather went slightly against us.”
Plunkett plays for England Lions against the West Indies at Derby this week and, having nurtured a host of players from Durham’s academy into the full England team, Cook would be happy to see the Teessider regain the international place his erratic bowling cost him in 2007.
“Liam’s obviously very much in the selectors’ thoughts, having been picked in the provisional squad for the Twenty20 World Cup,” he says. “Hopefully he can go into the game against the West Indies in good shape, having bowled well for us last week.” Who replaces Plunkett today might depend on whether Durham believe the pitch will suit seamer Mitchell Claydon or spinner Gareth Breese better.
DURHAM (from): M Di Venuto, M Stoneman, W Smith (c), G Muchall, D Benkenstein, I Blackwell, P Mustard (wk), G Breese, C Thorp, G Onions, M Claydon, S Harmison, B Harmison.
