Botham is figurehead in Durham rebellion
ESPNcricinfo previews Durham's prospects for the 2017 season
David Hopps
27-Mar-2017
Sir Ian Botham will be banging the Durham drum • Getty Images
Last season:
Championship: 4th Div 1 (relegated to Div 2 as punishment for financial mismanagement); NatWest Blast: Runners-up; Royal London Cup: 4th North Group
In: Cameron Steel (Middlesex)
Out: Scott Borthwick, Mark Stoneman (both Surrey), Asher Hart (Hampshire), Gordon Muchall (retired), Phil Mustard, Calum MacLeod, Jamie Harrison, Gurman Randhawa (all released)
Overseas: Stephen Cook (SA, April-July), Tom Latham (NZ, July-September) .
Championship: 4th Div 1 (relegated to Div 2 as punishment for financial mismanagement); NatWest Blast: Runners-up; Royal London Cup: 4th North Group
In: Cameron Steel (Middlesex)
Out: Scott Borthwick, Mark Stoneman (both Surrey), Asher Hart (Hampshire), Gordon Muchall (retired), Phil Mustard, Calum MacLeod, Jamie Harrison, Gurman Randhawa (all released)
Overseas: Stephen Cook (SA, April-July), Tom Latham (NZ, July-September) .
2016 in a nutshell
Last summer turned sour immediately after its completion when the full extent of Durham's financial predicament was laid bare. In return for a financial bail-out from the ECB, Durham's head was placed on a stake outside Lord's to warn other miscreants that the governing body would not be a lender of last resort: they were relegated, docked 48 points for 2017, and carried forward penalty points, too, in the limited-overs competitions. A rewarding season in which they had recovered to claim a top-four finish in the Championship and reached the final of the NatWest Blast - losing to Northants despite Keaton Jennings' finest T20 display - was entirely overshadowed.
Last summer turned sour immediately after its completion when the full extent of Durham's financial predicament was laid bare. In return for a financial bail-out from the ECB, Durham's head was placed on a stake outside Lord's to warn other miscreants that the governing body would not be a lender of last resort: they were relegated, docked 48 points for 2017, and carried forward penalty points, too, in the limited-overs competitions. A rewarding season in which they had recovered to claim a top-four finish in the Championship and reached the final of the NatWest Blast - losing to Northants despite Keaton Jennings' finest T20 display - was entirely overshadowed.
2017 prospects
Rebellion and resentment is still in the air as Durham remain furious about their treatment from the ECB. With a swingeing 48-point penalty to offset, and the Championship season cut to 14 matches, the pessimistic view is that Durham's challenge is as good as over before it begins. One disturbing fact: if Essex, last year's Division Two champions, had been docked 48 points they would have finished fifth. Neither have Durham been helped by a host of departures, with two prolific top-order batsmen, Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, heading for Surrey and a clutch of players jettisoned as a cost-cutting measure. Jennings might also win an England Test spot. The seam bowling remains strong, not just Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth, but Brydon Carse and Paul Coughlin, too, but if injuries bite expect Durham to be scouring the loan market.
Rebellion and resentment is still in the air as Durham remain furious about their treatment from the ECB. With a swingeing 48-point penalty to offset, and the Championship season cut to 14 matches, the pessimistic view is that Durham's challenge is as good as over before it begins. One disturbing fact: if Essex, last year's Division Two champions, had been docked 48 points they would have finished fifth. Neither have Durham been helped by a host of departures, with two prolific top-order batsmen, Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, heading for Surrey and a clutch of players jettisoned as a cost-cutting measure. Jennings might also win an England Test spot. The seam bowling remains strong, not just Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth, but Brydon Carse and Paul Coughlin, too, but if injuries bite expect Durham to be scouring the loan market.
In charge
Paul Collingwood, one of the grittiest cricketers of his generation, skippers Durham's Championship and T20 sides side in his 21st and final first-class season. Jennings, identified by England as a leader of potential, takes charge over 50 overs. Sir Ian Botham, a new chairman, played in Durham's inaugural season as a first-class county 25 years ago, when he did not entirely live up to his billing as "The Messiah". He has promised to trim back his outdoor pursuits a little, vowing last month: "We have a club and a club that will prosper; we will get ourselves back in the black." Botham, a one-time scourge of administrators, has sounded more philosophical than most about Durham's punishment, which just goes to show that age is a funny thing.
Paul Collingwood, one of the grittiest cricketers of his generation, skippers Durham's Championship and T20 sides side in his 21st and final first-class season. Jennings, identified by England as a leader of potential, takes charge over 50 overs. Sir Ian Botham, a new chairman, played in Durham's inaugural season as a first-class county 25 years ago, when he did not entirely live up to his billing as "The Messiah". He has promised to trim back his outdoor pursuits a little, vowing last month: "We have a club and a club that will prosper; we will get ourselves back in the black." Botham, a one-time scourge of administrators, has sounded more philosophical than most about Durham's punishment, which just goes to show that age is a funny thing.
Key player
With Stoneman and Borthwick having fled the nest, it is down to Jack Burnham to put his teenage years firmly behind him and score heavily at No. 4, fulfilling the promise that Collingwood identified when he invited him to fill the role a year ago.
With Stoneman and Borthwick having fled the nest, it is down to Jack Burnham to put his teenage years firmly behind him and score heavily at No. 4, fulfilling the promise that Collingwood identified when he invited him to fill the role a year ago.
Bright young thing
Asher Hart might have been nominated as Durham's bright young thing but this young allrounder has decamped to Hampshire with what many in the northeast view as indecent haste: Hampshire have not only pilfered Durham's first division place. Instead, much attention will be lavished upon Coughlin, whose 231 against Middlesex as Durham won the 2nd XI Championship brought rave reviews from his coach Neil Killeen. Coughlin has been on the England Pace Programme this winter and played in the North-South series and, at 24, deserves to put prolonged back trouble behind him.
Asher Hart might have been nominated as Durham's bright young thing but this young allrounder has decamped to Hampshire with what many in the northeast view as indecent haste: Hampshire have not only pilfered Durham's first division place. Instead, much attention will be lavished upon Coughlin, whose 231 against Middlesex as Durham won the 2nd XI Championship brought rave reviews from his coach Neil Killeen. Coughlin has been on the England Pace Programme this winter and played in the North-South series and, at 24, deserves to put prolonged back trouble behind him.
ESPNcricinfo verdict
If a sense of grievance was the only ingredient for sporting success then Durham would leave opponents floundering in their wake because fury still runs high in the northeast over their treatment by the ECB. Even allowing for that driver, to keep the performance levels high in a small squad until September will need all of Collingwood's leadership nous.
If a sense of grievance was the only ingredient for sporting success then Durham would leave opponents floundering in their wake because fury still runs high in the northeast over their treatment by the ECB. Even allowing for that driver, to keep the performance levels high in a small squad until September will need all of Collingwood's leadership nous.
Bet365 odds: Specsavers Championship, Div 2: 33-1; NatWest Blast 16-1; Royal London Cup 16-1
David Hopps is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps