sport news INSIDE COUNTY CRICKET: Newly promoted Durham believe they can win the County ... trends now
An indication of the prevailing mood in the Durham dressing room is that you won’t find any of its dwellers dismissing the theory that they could become only the third newly-promoted team to win the County Championship this season.
Even the rain that completely washed out their first top-flight fixture since 2016 - Hampshire’s visit to Chester-le-Street - couldn’t dampen it.
Since the inception of two divisions at the start of this century, only Nottinghamshire in 2005 and Essex seven years ago have managed to bridge the quality gap with applause.
‘If you ask anyone who watches cricket, they’d say our best 15 represent a top four Division One team,’ opening batsman Alex Lees reasons.
‘Within this playing group we’re very confident. The style of cricket we play, the cricketers we’ve produced for England and England Lions, the quality is clearly there.’
Durham opening batsman Alex Lees believes they can challenge at the top end of the County Championship this season
As well as Lees, who topped the Division Two scoring charts with 1347 runs last year, they have three other top-six players invigorated by the dose of Bazball administered by their Australian coach Ryan Campbell - South African David Bedingham, Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark - a pair of seamers with Test call-ups in their sights in Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse, plus Ben Stokes to add from May.
Australian Scott Boland, a seam bowler preferred to Mitchell Starc at the start of the 2023 Ashes, is signed up until the end of July and - should Durham prove to be genuine party-pooper material to Surrey’s historic hat-trick of titles quest - will be replaced by another top-end import for the second half of the summer, with South African Gerald Coetzee coveted.
Impressed by last year’s addresses to county coaches from Stokes and Brendon McCullum on the type of cricketers they wanted to elevate to international level, as it reminded him of his own playing days under the legendary Rod Marsh, Campbell instructed his team to release the handbrake.
They lost their opening match at Sussex 12 months ago, but freewheeled at 4.3 runs an over for the remainder.
‘I think in any sport having that vicarious experience to draw back on is very important,’ Lees continues.
‘The manner we played last year was ideal to bring a good vibe around the club and capitalise on that.
‘And regardless of how we start the season, I think we’ve just got too much quality not to be looking towards the top of the table.
‘The type of cricket we play is aggressive and fun and when everything is going well it is great to play in.
Durham think they can be the third newly promoted side to win the County Championship since its inception
‘We obviously loved last season, the test for our group will be when it doesn’t go so well, how we keep that mantra and trust it.
‘Obviously when you’re winning and
