GEOFF Cook is expecting a clear-out of his twenty-something fringe players this winter – but does not expect Liam Plunkett to be part of it.
With no cricket to occupy minds at a very wet Chester-le-Street yesterday, they turned to the future – long and short-term.
Captain Phil Mustard has a County Championship to win and seems determined not to jeopardise that by contriving a result from this four-day match with Hampshire, whereas coach Cook will soon have decisions to make on the bigger picture.
Durham have the country’s biggest squad, forcing talented players like Plunkett, Kyle Coetzer, Mark Davies, Ben Harmison, Mark Stoneman and Ruel Brathwaite to make do with little first-team cricket.
Plunkett, 26, was called up by England during their injury-hit one-day series in Australia in January, but cannot get back into Durham’s four-day team.
He played the first two Championship matches this season but picked up a quad injury and has not figured since.
A Twenty20 and CB40 regular, he played at Hampshire in both competitions recently without bowling or, in the 40-over clash, batting. He would have little difficulty finding another county, but Cook thinks he will stay and fight.
He said: “Liam is very keen to stay here next year, so that should be sorted out.
“Kyle was out on loan to Scotland. People like him have to be having the opportunity of first-class cricket, so if the opportunity comes along he would be silly not to consider it.
“Mark Davies is still with us for next season but Ben (Harmison) is in a similar boat to Kyle.
“These guys in their 20s playing second-team cricket on a pretty regular basis, it is not doing them any good.
“You do not want to see them – not floundering, but not moving forward.” Injury-plagued Davies has not featured this season, while Coetzer and Harmison played in the first half of the CB40 in April and May but not since. None faced Sri Lanka A last month.
Highly-rated opener Stoneman broke his hand in a fielding drill on the second day of the season.
He finally returned yesterday thanks to Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick’s England Lions call-ups and Paul Collingwood’s back injury.
Brathwaite took five-wicket hauls in his first two matches this season but has not played in any format since May.
Coetzer is 27, Davies 30, Harmison 25 and Stoneman 24. All came through the club’s academy. Cook added: “We have one or two people – Borthwick, Stokes and to a lesser extent Stoneman – who are showing promise and getting established,.
“For the mid-age range guys, the opportunities are getting less and less.
“You do not want frustrated players and you also want opportunities for guys in the second team. Managing it all is a little bit tricky.
“Keeping people motivated who are not involved in the first team on a regular basis is awkward, but that is an annual problem for cricket clubs.”
Halfway through the Championship match, just 30 overs have been bowled – all on day one.
It led to discussions about forfeited innings and contrived declarations, but Mustard is likely to play it safe.
He said: “We will just have to make that decision when we have seen what happens today.
“If we can even get half a day’s play in we will have to weight the options up – do we want to go for the win or just get full batting points and bowling points?
“If we do that it will give us a 17-point lead. That is a lot of points for a team to claw back unless they win.
“We all want to win the game but we have to look at the table.
“We are not going to set a target. If we bat last we will be quite happy to try and knock things off, so we can dictate if we go for them or not.”
