Ambitious Durham sensing Lord's

Michael Di Venuto has provided Durham with plenty of runs, but it isn't a one-man show © Getty Images

These are exciting times in the North East. Never mind Sam Allardyce's first-game return to the Reebok Stadium with Newcastle, Durham are in the middle of a season that could mark their coming-of-age as a major force. On Wednesday, the day after the county finishes hosting its third Test match, they line up for their first domestic semi-final, on home soil against Essex in the Friends Provident Trophy. There will be some anxious glances skywards after the recent deluges.

The signs of Durham's progress have been around for a few seasons. Last year they narrowly missed moving straight into a Lord's final, when Lancashire beat them to the top of the C&G Trophy North Conference, and they managed to cling onto Division One status in the Championship after a final-round scrap with Yorkshire. This summer, despite losing three key players - Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett - at various stages they still are in the top half of the table.

"The semi-final is a huge milestone," Clive Leach, the Durham chairman, told Cricinfo during the Chester-le-Street Test. "When you look at our history, we got into first-class cricket during the early 90s, when we were a bit of a Cinderella county. Then, when the Championship split into two divisions we were bottom of the second for three or four years. When we got promoted we came straight down again, but in 2005 we refocused our strategies and, after being promoted again, managed to hold onto the top division."

Durham has come a long way from the side that first appeared on the full domestic scene in 1992, when their squad included names such as Ian Botham, David Graveney and Wayne Larkins. Now, rather than a retirement home for players at the end of their careers, Durham are known as a conveyor belt of young talent. Graham Onions is expected to earn England honours shortly, possibly in the one-day squad against West Indies; Plunkett will doubtless come again after some time refining his skills, and the county speaks highly of Harmison's younger brother, Ben, and the legspinner Moeen Iqbal.

"It's a tremendous production line and a lot of credit has to go to Geoff Cook," said Leach. "Our depth has shown through this season. Even with three of our top players away we have made it into a semi-final and are pushing in the Championship."

And the county isn't about to rest on its laurels. The huge area covered by Durham, which extends beyond the county boundaries into Scotland and down to North Yorkshire, is constantly being scoured for new talent. Off the field, too, the club's ambitions are abundantly clear. The area taken up by temporary seating for the Test match will be replaced with a permanent, covered, stand and planning permission is being sought for a hotel. A 400-seat conference and banqueting suite is also in the pipeline. "We set out to be the iconic cricket centre," said Leach. "We want to be the best and that's what we are working towards, from the young players coming through to the development of the ground itself."

When finished, all those aspects will make an outstanding facility, but what the club really wants right now is a Lord's final. Tomorrow they get the chance to book their place.

The longest day of the year is approaching which means it is Twenty20 time. The whites have been put away for two weeks to be replaced by an array of various blues, reds, greens and even pinks. But this is now a serious form of cricket and, with the World Championship in South Africa looming in September, there is an added incentive for the players.

England's leading players have tasted so little Twenty20 cricket that there could well be space for a few specialists on the plane to South Africa. The format has brought a new lease of life to some careers - notably Darren Maddy, now at Warwickshire, and Jeremy Snape, who bowls super-slow offspin for the defending champions, Leicestershire.

The counties have certainly embraced Twenty20, so much so that Snape is a specialist captain for the format at Grace Road, and many teams have signed players specifically with the tournament in mind; Sanath Jayasuriya at Lancashire and Tyron Henderson at Middlesex to name but two. With full houses for home games, a successful run in the competition can turn a poor financial season into a success.

Leicestershire will be strong contenders again, although the loss of Maddy is a huge blow, and his move to Warwickshire will make them a tough proposition. Marcus Trescothick and Justin Langer will give the bowlers some heartache at the top of Somerset's order, just as Graeme Smith did went they won in 2005, while the tournament may just have come at the perfect time for the inaugural champions, Surrey, whose early-season form has been nothing to write home about.