Blackwell makes real difference to Durham – Smith

Jun 16 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

WILL Smith believes the signing of Ian Blackwell has made Durham a stronger side than the one which lifted its first County Championship title last year.

Durham, who travel to Warwickshire today, moved up into second place in the Liverpool Victoria County Championship thanks to a comprehensive 138-run win over Lancashire at Chester-le-Street at the weekend.

It was the second game in a row Durham have triumphed inside three days, with pace pair Stephen Harmison and Graham Onions taking 31 wickets between them to prompt talk they could be lining up alongside each other for England against Australia later this summer.

But Smith, while thrilled by the impact his main strike bowlers are having on Durham’s title defence, also pointed to the major contributions Blackwell has made with the bat following his winter switch from Somerset.

Although the 30-year-old has not managed a century in the County Championship, he has regularly added valuable runs in the middle order and it was his 74 in the second innings against Lancashire which gave Durham’s bowlers the lead they needed to kill off Lancashire’s resistance.

Smith said: “There was some world- class bowling from both sides, but we were fortunate that we had the one truly quality innings of the match from Ian Blackwell, whose 74 proved to be the difference between the two sides.

“The bowling attacks cancelled each other out to an extent, but Ian came in and played a wonderful knock which gave us those extra runs we needed for Graham Onions and Steve Harmison to win us the game.

“The signing of Ian Blackwell has been a very important one. He has played four or five innings this year where he has made a real difference. He can come in and really take the game away from a side if we have 300 on the board or he can come in, like we were against Lancashire at 10-4, and turn our innings around.

“I wouldn’t want to have anyone else in that role because he is perfectly suited to it. And, if the pitches stay dry this summer, he’ll also come more into it as a spin bowling option.”

With Blackwell coming in at number six, Durham’s batting certainly has more depth to it this season with wicketkeeper Phil Mustard – who is more than a useful batsman – in at seven.

Significantly, when Blackwell has scored runs they have been important, a half-century against Somerset coming after he hit 95 on his Championship debut against Yorkshire.

Blackwell said: “The one against Lancashire was my most valuable knock for Durham. I scored a hundred on my debut against the MCC which was important for me moving to a new county. That was quite special.

“We were in a bit of trouble against Yorkshire and I scored 95, which was also pleasing, but Lancashire are one of the teams who are going to be challenging up there for the title, and we feel we have sent a message to the rest of the country by convincingly beating them, so it was vital.”

Although Durham have won convincingly in their last two games, Smith is anticipating a far tighter contest at Edgbaston where a flat pitch has been a batsman’s paradise this season.

He said: “Warwickshire will be a different challenge. The wicket down there has been very flat and very docile, but if we can play some positive cricket we will be able to get something.

“Whether we can win down there is another matter. I think they have gone something like 20 games without a win so it’s going to be tough. Our confidence is pretty high, though, so we’ll see what happens.”

DURHAM SQUAD TO FACE WARWICKSHIRE (away): Di Venuto, Stoneman, Smith, Muchall, Benkenstein, Blackwell, Mustard, Thorp, Claydon, Onions, S Harmison, Breese, Borthwick.