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Well it means very few Durham fans will make it to the match.

If the MCC /ECB want to promote the future of game played under lights with a pink ball and under new regs they should fork out and lay some live TV coverage on and a proper package of highlights.

A live internet TV stream would help but not for those who cannot access the internet.

Am I right in thinking this will be the first ever FC day/night match?

Durham will play this match probably without Bunny,Pudsey,Bob and Colly ,assuming they will tour Bangladesh, as it overlaps with the England series in Bangladesh.

Cook is hoping to take in some additional matches too and is looking to Claydon,Evans and Baby H to show their form as part of a squad of 17/18 players.

Aidan

there is confirmation for you from the Lord's press release

MCC and Durham will contest the first-ever day/night, four-day match using pink balls.

After a bit of research this match is not as traditional as it is billed certainly, not at Lords.

In 1902 there was a Rest of England v Champion county at the Oval played at the end of the season in question.This fixture was repeated until the Great War and revived in the 1920's until WW2.

The match was revived briefly in 1947 but not played again until 1954 again at the Oval in Sept.It was missing in 1958 returned in 1959 and finally dropped in that format in 1961.

The MCC fixture v Champion County appeared,possibly in 1967, but as the CC winners in 1966, Yorkshire, already had an established fixture against the MCC in April at Lords,and were champions between 1966 and 1968,it is diffult to say when the Champion county fixture was actually designated as such.

In 1969 however Glams were the champs and they played the MCC in what is the first clearly designated Champion County match at Lordsin April 1970.

In 1977 there was a variation in so far as there were joint champions in 1976(Kent/Middlx)but only Middlx played the MCC at Lords.

The fixture was again discontinued in 1992 and MCC were replaced by England A and again in 1993.The latter match was the first of this period to be played away from Lords,this time a Chelmsford as Essex were the champions.

The trend continues in 1994 dressed up as the Tetley Bitter Shield( Middlx at Lords) and 1995 ( Warks at Edgbaston).

There was no Champion county game from 1996 to 2000 but an attempt to stage a match in 2001 between the Champion county and Nat West winners ,termed the Champion Charity Cup,was postponed and eventually not played.

There was no fixture in 2002 or 2003 and the current Champion
County match was revived in 2004.

It is therefore a bit off the mark as a traditional fixture ie 28 matches played as Champion County v MCC ,at Lords,out of a possible 40.

So the MCC - nothing but media tarts on the bandwagon then?

All interesting stuff Southwood, well done!

It was our former poster,now on Indian Cricket and 606, who got me thinking.

I remember this fixture in the late 60's and like so many assumed ,because it is lauded as the 'Traditional' season opener in the Press,that it was so.

Probably is evidence that there was not much significance in the match othewr for the county involved and as a brief moment in the season for cricket correspondents,many of whom know nothing or very little about the game.

Quote Southwood.

In 1977 there was a variation in so far as there were joint champions in 1976(Kent/Middlx)but only Middlesex played the MCC at Lords.

Hate to correct you Southwood. Obviously a man of considerable cricket knowledge.

But Middlesex were outright champions in 1976 and shared with Kent in 1977.

So it would be correct for them to have played MCC as The Champion County in 1977. though it was not listed as such.

In 1978, Middlesex also played MCC.

However, Kent don't appear to have featured in 1978.

However as they (Kent) won it outright in 1978. (the last occasion in their case).

I don't suppose they were worried. (the late Bob Woolmer featured in that team).

Many thanks Seaxe_Man and apologies for the error.

Durham ,in Abu Dhabi at the end of March, have arranged four one-day games either side of the four-day match against the MCC.

Two of the one-day games will be against Surrey and Sussex and two against local teams.

Good!

We need to play as much OD stuff as possible against the southern group teams

The MCC team has been announced for the game

Ramps is the most significant selection- possibily his last season?
MCC team to play Durham:
* Alex Gidman - Gloucestershire CCC
Scott Newman - Middlesex CCC
David Sales - Northamptonshire CCC
Mark Ramprakash - Surrey CCC
Dawid Malan - Middlesex CCC
James Taylor - Leicestershire CCC
† James Foster - Essex CCC
James Middlebrook - Northamptonshire CCC
Chris Tremlett - Hampshire CCC
Steve Kirby - Gloucestershire CCC
Steve Finn - Middlesex CCC

Full press release link
[www.lords.org]

Hey ho – the wonderful MCC have released the line up for our 4 day warm up match in the desert. The one that the MCC still likes to call traditional, but of course isn’t at all and is a rather unusual training match for us this year. [ John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket and Manager of the MCC team to face Durham, said: "This is a traditional fixture." Yeah right John ]

The MCC uses twitter and facebook as part of it’s promotion of activities at Lords ‘the home of cricket’. The @HomeOfCricket is so far touting the match on twitter this way - MCC v Champ County team profiles: [tinyurl.com] - words 'outstanding', 'excellent' and 'nasty' are used. #cricket

Which at the moment without confirmation of any broadcast linkups smaks rather a lot of ‘look what we will be enjoying later on this year – that us – not you!’

I have to say as someone who would have gone to an Engilsh based fixture [but obviously March is mad for this sort of thing] I’m interested in how they are going to get this match the maximum amount of viewers. So I have been on their case a bit. Earlier I suggested that they could have trialed the pink ball at a high profile charity match only to be told ‘@HomeOfCricket
- Only trouble with a charity match is we want people to take the pink ball seriously. This will certainly do that.’

So if they want the pink ball and presumably this match to be taken seriously – why aren’t they getting the maximum possible exposure for the match?

This is what the ‘@HomeOfCricket’ said when I have asked them – “Obviously what Sky do is their call - doing what we can. Hope to at least have 'web-able' radio coverage. More details when we have them”. And about last years fixture @HomeOfCricket
“ They didn't cover it live 'ball-by-ball' as it were but SkySportsNews had a camera here - likely to have a camera there this time too.”

So at the moment only the likes of doshed up MCC members and high profile ICC Champaign quaffers are the only spectators worth garnering. So the likes of you and I who would actually like to get a look at the pre season condition of our non England duty team, might get some MCC web radio if we are lucky.

If I have to experience this match through the PR titbits of the MCC I am going to go nuts.

I have asked about a static live feed of the pitch for web broadcast? Presumably If it’s an important trial won't some remote people want to see ball behavior? Won’t they want to record it in a way for discussion later?

I’ll let you know if I get any interesting responses – or they may manage to PR something in the meantime.

The old regular DBTR posters now post on CMS here; [www.cricket-match-special.com] or here; [www.cricket-match-special.com]

Planet Durham: CCC [planetdurham.wordpress.com] ..yer actual Lion hunting bloke of the wide open African plains sees bowling as a natural progression from spear throwing. Yesssss!

Thanks for that 668. I was busy yesterday so did not get a chance to read tthis input otherwise I would have raised it at the Forum last night.

Clive Leech was there and he might have been able to use his contacts to make more headway.

I have also e mailed John Stephenson, who seems to heading uo this fixture,about the whole broadcast idea but so far no reply.

Wonder where the kit for last years video highlights came from? The video equipment they used for the one day packages that the club started to post on the website and then did not persist with as the one day form was poor.

Presumably the club will take the performance analysis equipment too – just wonder if they can get something together using a combination of that if nothing better presents?

Some Durham controlled video highlights and some stills on a website extension would be better than nothing. Sky news updates are there and gone – you are not guaranteed to catch up with them – I never seem to anyway! And proper media photography just stays with stills of big name players.

I spoke to a friend who is considering going [he is mainly a T20 fan, but has found that he likes CC too – so one of those with jobs!!] And he made the point that it’s expensive to get to London anyway if you are not staying with friends – so he will be taking the sun option and making it a holiday [cricket being the only reason to go to UAE]

Shame they didn’t turn it into a set of T20 games – more of the fans with dosh would have gone, I suspect. The first class loving members are rather more if you can afford the time for the championship you are less likely to be able to afford to jaunt of to UAE.

Good idea 668.

Yvette Thompson is usually quite good at fielding and passing on such ideas.

Do you want to send her an email or phone her?

Yvette Thompson Media and PR Manager 0191 387 1717
ext 2873

yvette.thompson@durhamccc.co.uk

668- Coincidentally Yvette e mailed about the AD match so I took the opportunity to raise the issue of some form of filming.

She said she find out what coverage there was likely to be and try to keep everyone informed.( A politicians answer ?)

Well my friend who was thinking of going – was thinking of the Durham tour. Having seen the price…… even with the lure of winter sun - that is definitely not for him! I know a couple of others who are completely gob smacked [ and one I know who would have gone to Lords]

£2090 quid if you were thinking of treating yourself - £1595 if you were to go with an equally flush traveling companion - I know sports tours aren’t cheap but.....this is not an international test match!

I had an twitter exchange with whoever does that web twitter thing today. This was the response at one stage on twitter - @DurhamCricket We'll be tweeting the action...if that helps!

I’d rather watch it on ceefax/cricinfo! So ‘look what we will be enjoying later on this year – that us – not you!’ Is coming from Durham too. Tweet? My @#$%&!!

I think the club/MCC should give some info on how to do it more cheaply. I am really appalled at how complacent they are being to the supporters on this one. [Day night pink ball or not – test cricket is still going to look rubbish if no one is watching it at the stadium]. They can’t have it both ways – it’s either a closed doors training match – or it is something [if you can afford it] worth spending two grand on seeing. And if it’s that good – then you make sure the home supporters at least have a chance of experiencing it somehow, with some quality.

I suggested that they see if they can link up with some of the NE trade mission to try and get some cheaper room deal – you would think with the MCC they could get something together for independent travelers wanting to go.

Did some web browsing looks like you could do 5 or 6 nights for 700 ish. Still way out of my price range and well above the £15 a day it costs at Lords, although I know London hotels aint cheap.

It was always going to be costly and at the end of the day this is nothing more than a pre-season friendly game. Fair play to those who will make the trip but I will settle for following it via whatever media sources are available at home.

Extract from an e mail reply I have had from Durham CCc.

"Further to my email on Friday I have made enquiries to the MCC about the coverage of the game. From discussions they have had they are confident that Sky Sports News and a number of broadsheets will be attendance



Discussions are ongoing about the possibility of ball by ball radio coverage.

In a bid to keep its supporters up to date Durham CCC will be updating the match action as it happens on the www.durhamccc.co.uk website, with photographs from the game. We shall also be uploading exclusive video interviews from the team. Those people who follow us on Twitter, we will be updating the action on there too. We are in the process of having an interactive feature added onto the official website in time for this fixture, which will allow supporters to get involved and ask questions as the action happens and we shall respond/upload relevant information – so if anyone has any queries/thoughts they can share them with our online community (in a similar vein to the BBC 606 board).

As this is an official MCC fixture the initial responsibility for securing TV/radio coverage lies with them, with Durham CCC offering support where necessary with regard to player access for interviews etc."

I hope the MCC can get ball by ball coverage - Martin Emerson did it last year from Lords.

I guess it won't be fully live on Sky then.

A report on the pink ball experiment in Aus
[www.abc.net.au]

[quote southwood]Extract from an e mail reply I have had from Durham CCc.

"Further to my email on Friday I have made enquiries to the MCC about the coverage of the game. From discussions they have had they are confident that Sky Sports News and a number of broadsheets will be attendance

Oh good..... cctv footage sandwiched between reports on Rooney's baby's latest hairstyle and jason Kundy talking about Chelsea's defensive woe's.

And lots of "coming up after the break, a live report from Abu Dhabi" only to find that they really mean in 3/4 of an hours time after they've suckered you in to watching endless football nonsense in the interim

Yes I always find the SSN announcement "coming up..." very irritating. It would be better if they said "coming up some time today, and if we can fit it in...."

Sky Sports News should also be changed to Sky Football News With The Odd Coverage of Other Sports Thrown In.

Have got an email from Martin Emmerson - the BBC and the MCC are going to do joint radio coverage of the match. At the moment confirmed for website broadcast - he is still finding out about if there will be any conventional AM stuff for the NE.

Martin says
"Because of the time difference, and the fact the match is a floodlit affair, the hours of play in England will be just like they are in a County Championship match in September, with play due to start at 10.30am each day and finishing at 5.30pm.

Obviously this is a very historic match. Not only will the game be played under lights, they will also be using a new pink ball for the first time and if the match is deemed a success it will make way for the first floodlit test match, which will see England play Bangladesh under lights at Lords in May.

I will let you know more details about our coverage when they are confirmed nearer the time. The match takes place from Monday the 29th of March to Thursday the 1st - the day before Good Friday"



So there will be something - not much, - but something, and at least by someone who knows our players.

Not sure which time zones Martin is talking about when he says the match starts at 10.30am - I presume as it's day night the 10.30 is UK and it is starting after lunchish there in Abu D?


Don't fancy the idea of a day night test match in May! Neither will the Bangladesh team - it is when Bangladesh is at it's hottest - they will be the miserable West Indians all over again, but even more so cos it will probably be colder.

The old regular DBTR posters now post on CMS here; [www.cricket-match-special.com] or here; [www.cricket-match-special.com]

Planet Durham: CCC [planetdurham.wordpress.com] ..yer actual Lion hunting bloke of the wide open African plains sees bowling as a natural progression from spear throwing. Yesssss!

Beat me to it 668- have spent the day entertaing and being entertained by a future Englnad hopeful, currently aged 6 months.

6 months old eh? Bating, bowling, ace fielding, allrounder?? No pressure then!

His Great Grandfather has him down as a batsman but he is good at appealing so I reckon he will be more of a bowler( or wkt keeper).

Well nearly the start of the season again and Abu Dhabi is a day nighter meaning the game is on from around 6ish in the evening to the early hours our time.
That strangely makes it easier for me to follow as I will be able to listen to any commentary after work.

From the Durham site. Woohoo we can watch live

Get interactive for Durham CCC v MCCThe season opener is almost upon us and the latest addition to the Durham CCC website will be up and running in time for the Durham v MCC fixture in Abu Dhabi from 29 March – 1 April.

We’re going to be launching an interactive live match stream where you can follow the action as it happens and text, email or tweet any questions or comments you might have, as the game is in play. We’ll post the latest milestone, wicket and match information which will appear on the home page but also as a stream of match activity.
We want to encourage Durham supporters to follow us home and away and start contributing to online match day discussions. It’ll be the best way to get the latest news and we’ll also have players contributing so you’ll be able to get their views too.

Durham CCC is also taking a video camera to Abu Dhabi so we can post interviews at the close of play each day and you can use the live match stream to suggest questions too.

There will be ball by ball commentary from BBC Radio Newcastle’s Martin Emmerson, which we’ll link to from the Durham CCC website.

This section of the website will be launched on 29 March so put the date in your diary and make sure you sign up and get in touch!

Abu Dhabi is 4 hours ahead. If it's a day night won't it start about 2.30 ish. That would be 10.30am our time [which was the time given in Martin Emmersons email]

6pm our time sounds more like Caribbean time.

Do they really mean we will be able to watch live action?

Or do they mean just live chat type stuff - with some pictures thrown in, in a timely manner - 'interactive live match stream' is what they say. Wouldn't they make more of actually seeing the action live if that is what they were offering?

The old regular DBTR posters now post on CMS here; [www.cricket-match-special.com] or here; [www.cricket-match-special.com]

Planet Durham: CCC [planetdurham.wordpress.com] ..yer actual Lion hunting bloke of the wide open African plains sees bowling as a natural progression from spear throwing. Yesssss!

I think live stream refers more to the modern equivslnet of the old steam radio.

All the info coming out of Durham and the Beeb relates to radio. The DCCC website says follow the action not watch which is usually media speak for radio.

I suspect this match may be live on a foreign tv channel.


That being the case it may be available on a stream somewhere on the 'net.

Very short report on Look North sports section showing the Durham squad at Newcastle airport getting ready to leave. all weaing their new one day kits which looked a bit strange.
The report stated that Durham would be playing 4 one day games then the 1st class match against the MCC.
Be interesting to see if they play their full strength team in the MCC game.Personally i would like to see them blood Stokes instead of making his debut in a championship match.

Interviewed by the BBC - Geoff Cook talks about the trip, pink balls and day night cricket.

[news.bbc.co.uk]

Update from Martin Emmerson re start time of the Match


"It's a 2.30pm start there and 11.30am start here. Clocks go forward on Saturday night bring the time difference down to three hours."

Doh + and - hours. I will eventually work out how those work.

Durham beat Sussex in the pro40 match :

[www.theargus.co.uk]

Good, solid start to the tour. Looks as if there were a number of excellent contributions throughout the team-how unusual for Benkenstein & DiVenuto to be the leading run scorers!

Good support from Rocky and Smudge as well.

Note that Blackwell, Colonel,Harmy,Bob and Thorp were not playing so this was an even better result.

Durham innings (40 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
MJ Di Venuto c Rayner b Aga 51 54 6 0 94.44

MD Stoneman c Kirtley b Martin-Jenkins 43 55 5 1 78.18

WR Smith* b Kirtley 31 41 2 0 75.60

DM Benkenstein c Gatting b Keegan 61 48 6 1 127.08

GR Breese b Keegan 14 16 0 0 87.50

KJ Coetzer b Keegan 10 13 2 0 76.92

MJ Richardson† not out 6 10 0 0 60.00

WRS Gidman not out 1 4 0 0 25.00

Extras (lb 2, w 4, nb 1) 7

Total (6 wickets; 40 overs) 224 (5.60 runs per over)
Did not bat SG Borthwick, ME Claydon, L Evans
Fall of wickets1-72, 2-105, 3-177, 4-204, 5-214, 6-219

Bowling O M R W Econ
CB Keegan 7 0 26 3 3.71

RJ Kirtley 7 0 46 1 6.57

RSC Martin-Jenkins 8 0 38 1 4.75

OP Rayner 5 0 26 0 5.20

MS Panesar 6 0 38 0 6.33

RG Aga 3 0 28 1 9.33

MH Yardy

Sussex innings :

borthwick and Gidman were both expensive.

Sussex innings (target: 225 runs from 40 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
MA Thornely lbw b Claydon 0 1 0 0 0.00

JS Gatting run out (Smith/†Richardson) 1 1 0 0 100.00

BC Brown† run out (Smith) 16 25 3 0 64.00

MH Yardy* b Borthwick 37 49 4 0 75.51

RG Aga c Di Venuto b Breese 18 26 1 0 69.23

AJ Hodd c Coetzer b Claydon 48 50 4 0 96.00

RSC Martin-Jenkins st †Richardson b Breese 14 16 2 0 87.50

OP Rayner run out (Smith/Breese) 25 40 2 0 62.50

CB Keegan c Borthwick b Gidman 15 12 1 0 125.00

RJ Kirtley not out 3 5 0 0 60.00

MS Panesar b Evans 1 4 0 0 25.00

Extras (lb 5, w 8) 13

Total (all out; 38.1 overs) 191 (5.00 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-0, 2-2, 3-21, 4-73, 5-77, 6-100, 7-155, 8-180, 9-189, 10-191

Bowling O M R W Econ
ME Claydon 8 0 20 2 2.50

WRS Gidman 7 0 47 1 6.71

L Evans 7.1 0 34 1 4.74

GR Breese 8 1 33 2 4.12

SG Borthwick 6 0 43 1 7.16

KJ Coetzer 2 0 9 0 4.50

I wonder if Cook and Smith have an idea of the team for the opening CC game against Essex? Onions seems certain to be out and we still don't know if Plunkett and/or Davies will be fit. Assuming all 3 are out(and hopefully that won't be the case) there are 2 or 3 places up for grabs-DiVenuto,Smith, Benkenstein, Blackwell, Mustard and Steve Harmison are automatic selections and presumably Thorp and Claydon will play so that leaves 3 places-Coetzer will almost certainly start because of his impressive performances at the end of last season so he'll either open with Diva or play in the middle-order. Stoneman, Muchall and Ben Harmison would be the main candidates for the other batting spot but the tricky decision would be who comes in for Plunkett? Liam averaged 44 at number 8 so replacing him with an out-and-out bowler(presumably Evans) would weaken the batting but that might be a risk worth taking because Claydon and Thorp are more than useful with the bat. The alternative would be to select an all-rounder (Harmy jnr or Gidman)
With a bit of luck Plunkett and Davies will both be fit, if not we are fortunate to have so many excellent seamers in the squad but there is no like-for-like replacement for Liam.

First title of the season has been won today in Abu Dhabi![www.durhamccc.co.uk]
Very impressive sounding innings from Ben Stokes and half-centuries for Phil Mustard and Gordon Muchall.
Good to see Killeen back in the side too.

That is encouraging news esp as Stokes ,Colonel and Much were in the runs but disappointing that Blackie did not feature ( out for 7).Ben H also contributed 38.

Killer,Rushworth(his 1st for Durham),Thorp,Blackwell and Breese (4) all took wickets.

There have been lots of good individual performances in the first 2 games, let's hope Blackwell gets some runs in the MCC match.

Certainly a good start from the Lads - I'm really quite looking forward to the MCC match now.

If the MCC are fielding an attack of Kerby, Murtagh and Lewis I reckon that is quite formidable - Murtagh is very good, and I think a much better pick than Finn, I really hope he gets to play - certainly more challenging for us if he does.

It will be really interesting to see how the pink ball behaves for the seamers - I don't think it swings much.

The highlights of the UAE match were very disappointing.

Mostly footage everything but the game. One 6 struck by Ben Stokes was all the action in 3 odd mins of footage

Yes I think there is some way to go with this one.

The footage from last years FPT was quite good re shots and wickets as I remember. Until it became a document of defeat and they stopped doing it. Only about three matches or so were covered in the end.

The current footage is certainly nowhere near that. But if Yvette is having to shoot, edit, write the scrip for and put it together plus all the other press liaison stuff then there just will not be enough time for anything better - shame.

Also the area on the page is too small to take the full footage frame - some IT / web programming time needs to be put in.

Perhaps the MCC will be able to rig up something better in time for the big one? Or add extra personnel? Certainly hope so but not holding my breath.

They have started and there is a commentary from BBC radio N/c
Link below ( hope it works)

[news.bbc.co.uk]

interesting team selection.Coezer gets the opening birth ahead of Stoneman.Stokes makes debut batting at 5 and Borthwick gets a game Durham playing 2 spinners cant see them doing that at the Riverside against Es

Will this game count towards the records when calculating the runs & wickets for the domestic 2010 season?

Quote:

Aidan11
Will this game count towards the records when calculating the runs & wickets for the domestic 2010 season?

yes..... f/c match

First hundred of the county season goes to DiVenuto.
Intriguing to see Stokes in the side, does this suggest he will start the Championship season? Can't think of any reason not to play the first choice batting line-up in this game. Having said that the inclusion of Borthwick is a surpise, I know we have 3 injured seamers but surely Scott won't be playing any Championship cricket in the early stages of the season so wouldn't it have been better to play Evans or one of the other seamers who do have a chance of playing in the first game?

Mark, I think it is horses for courses in AD. There is nothing in the pitch for the pace men so 2 spinners is a sensible bowling combination and Stokes gives an extra dimension too.

The batting line up is interesting but the thinking for the CC may change when Pudsey is fit.

I think it is the ideal match to blood Stokes, he may well be needed in the championship this season. Also that innings the other day will not have done him any harm even though it was against the UAE.
The coaching staff have also been very keen on him for the past couple of years in the academy set up.

I can understand playing two spinners as horses for courses, perhaps the club are certain Davies and/or Plunkett are going to be fit for the first game because if that's not the case it might have been worth looking at another seamer in this game regardless of the conditions.
However the Stokes selection is intriguing-can anyone think of a good reason for playing him if he wasn't going to start the season in the CC team? Smith and Cook might have to wait until they get a fitness update on the injured seamers before they know what their first choice bowling attack is but surely they know the batting lineup.

One reason for playing Stokes is to give him some 1st class experience in a 'friendly' match.

He clearly has the ability to move up to the 1st team level but Cook is a cautious man and will not expose him to the CC early on unless he is confident that he will fit in.As a young player Stokes will be given every opportunity to show what he can do but only if he fits in to the team balance,the game plan and the type of opposition.] to be faced.

The balance of the team is very important and it needs to be clear what role Stokes will play. Is it batsman who can bowl or allrounder? If the latter more will be expected of him in a game. If the former who is going to make way?

I have just read Derek Pringle effort,on the AD game, in the Torygraph.

Nothing spectacular but an according to him Diva still plays for Tasmania. Does he not read the papers?

One positon which has been decided today is Divas opening partner for the start of the championship campaign will be Coetzer.That leaves one position open in the batting line up at this stage it looks like a toss up between Stokes and Muchall (Ben Harmison appears more like a bowling all rounder these days)
As far as the seamers go i get the impression with the Durham management that if Harmy is fit and available then they are quite happy to perm any 3 from Onions Davies Plunkett Claydon Evans or Ben Harmison as they see them as all reliable performers in a 4 man attack.

Pringle has always been an idiot...... an odious one at that

I was surprised by Much's omission, but I'll be even more surprised if Stokes makes the CC team often, if at all, this season. I expect to see him in the short stuff though, which is where I would expect to find baby H

Blackwell has fallen early on day 2 and FC debutant Stokes is now at the wicket.

The live match chat on Durham's site is currently disabled. Perhaps we should re-direct them to this site. There were quite a few on there yesterday.

Yes - they are not the most consistent with new technologies. I remember the one day match video highlights didn't get beyond a third match.

If they have had any tech problems with it - prob difficult to get them fixed with any speed.

Nice to hear Stokes get his first runs.

You've become famous 668,

I heard you being discussed on commentary earlier. They kept refering to you as a 'chap'

If I knew how to email them i would have pointed out that 'chap' doesn't really apply

I didn't really hear how your name came up..... something to do with an email that you had sent them, I think

Good workout for the bowlers. Harmison and Thorp took care of the top-order and the tail was quickly blown away by Borthwick(4 wickets in 4 overs).
Very good day for Stokes-half century and a wicket on his first class debut.
No surprise that the follow on hasn't been enforced because the batsmen who didn't get going in the first innings could do with another chance although it's been a disastrous start-Borthwick opened with Smith and was out for 0 immediately followed by Benks who was lbw first ball! 0/2 after 1.3 overs. That's pretty irrelevant though, the main hope in the second innings is for Smith and Blackwell to get some runs.

We're looking good for the title already.

(posted with tongue firmly in cheek).

Borthwick must be kicking himself black and blue for missing out twice in a day and Benks has missed an opportunity to post a good score.

Despite comments to the contrary, I wonder if the pitch is deteriorating a bit. The spinners have been the most successful so far despite Harmy and Thorp taking 5 between them.

Kirby is showing what a good bowler he is.It is a pity he has a habit of being difficult temperamentally- he would probably have gained greater recognition if he had learned to control himself more in the past.

With a lead of just over 300 and 2 days to go Durham will probably need the batsmen to graft until about tea tomorrow to set MCC a target,unless the pitch is deteriorating in which case it could be all over before lunch on day 4.

I have been quite impressed by the commentary and interviews that Martin Emmerson has been providing over the last 2 days.

In view of the Beeb's reluctance to provide decent radio coverage of Durham's exploits outside the T20 and 40 over game i have sent an e mail applauding their coverage of this match,the performance of Martin Emmerson adding great value to it,the enhancement of Radio N/c's reputation in covering a sport other than football and suggesting that they co-ordinate their local radio resources to provide a more complete coverage of 1st Div CC games around the country.

In the past the Notts,Lancs,Somerset(now covered by a community provider) and Hants games have all suffered from lack of coverage,missing some important and inteeresting games.In contrast Sussex, Surrey,Derbys and Worcs, all Div 2 sides,will probably have all their games covered. This is akin to the Premier League being ignored in favour of the Championship.

If anyone else feels 'stirred' to act please e mail the Beeb with your views. I submitted mine via the Contact us link on their website.

With the resources available to him Martin does a sterling job. He has added pictures to twitter and facebook. And done a couple of match write-ups for the BBC site. He plays more attention to the match than they sometimes do on TMS now. And the interviews have been really good. Was very impressed with Kerby, and Keith Bradshaw is quite jolly. They have a team of 6 or so presenters and a scorer/stats person and other back up on TMS - so to do all the days, all day as one person with some interviewees is very good going.

So yes I should write something to the Beeb - it annoys the hell out of me that Middlesex and Surrey get all their sometimes very dull matches broadcast and Durham gets none until the cup is within their grasp.

I have sent in a few emails - that's why you will have heard 668 mentioned. Bradshaw thought I was a chap - but he was corrected - I have met Martin a couple of times at matches. I wanted to ask Harker a question but he was on and gone quite quickly. I have also been identifying the bird sounds - that's common mynahs - not much else about in the desert - sent a couple of pictures in.



I have always liked Kerby and he seems to be bowling well, I have to say I have been disappointed with Murtagh, I thought he would do better.

The action from today was great and rather nice to see the bowlers run through the MCC team on a flat track.

I would think that we would bat until it cools down again?

Hope Blackie can get some runs in. Hope Thorpy is OK.

I'll be e-mailing the BBC.

Things aren't going to plan this morning-Smith and Blackwell both out and the score is 60/4. Unfortunate that neither of them made a decent score in either innings but it's only a minor issue. Perhaps the pitch is detiorating? Victory is surely a formality (assuming Thorp is OK). May as well bat for a bit longer because there's plenty of time to bowl the MCC out.

Everything back on track now, half-century from Mustard and then a superb partnership between Coetzer and Thorp who made his highest FC score 79 not out. Declaration came at 228/6 and Harmison has taken an early wicket.
This match has gone very well, most of the batsmen have made runs, the question of who will open with Diva has been answered, the scores prove how strong our seam bowling department is, shrugging off the loss of 3 first choice bowlers.
Also very encouraging to see Harmy start so well, usually it takes him a few games before he reaches peak form but he seems to be have found his rhythm in the first game.

Blackie's shoulder op does not appear to have affected his bowling,just his batting

Nice to see Scotty with 7 wickets so far, sounds like his bowling is coming along well.

Also congratulations to Thorp for his highest first class run total. Hope he is back bowling soon!

Looks like most of our lads have had a good game here.

All appears to be well for the assualt on the County Championship.

Yes, it's been an impressive performance. Wonder if Thorp was hoping Smith would delay the declaration so he had a chance of making a century?! Presumably his injury is just a niggle, can't imagine he would have batted in the second innings if there were any real concerns.
Luke Edwards in The Evening Chronicle has been highly impressed by Borthwick:
[www.chroniclelive.co.uk]

An interesting perspective on borthwick an an honest self assessment of where is now and what he has to do.

The other snippet came from the hint that Durham may play 2 spinners more. With the use of the heavy roller banned after the start of the game this will be more likely and Durham have 3 good spinners all of whom can bat in middle or lower middle order.

The added ingredianet of Stokes may take a lot of focus,and pressure, away from the legendary seam attack.

The squad looks very balanced for most circumstances provided injuries do not upset it.

I thought Luke was good on the radio today.

A friend has just joked that they will need to get the pitch inspectors in. It made me think: the Durham dodgy pitch effect - few teams ever get to a second new ball in an innings against us.

Or do they, there were a lot of short matches last year that we won and a lot of rain affected matches. Do many teams make to over 90 overs against us?

Did it happen much last year. Going back over stats isn't my thing.....

Southwood......one for you?

The new ball comes at 80 overs and I do not know this one off hand and could only estimate from the records.Taking the new ball is not obligatory and I have seen games when the n b has not been taken for another 10/15 overs

In the 2008 CC winning season the opposition lasted 80+overs against the Durham bowling on 6 occasions out of 28 innings started of which only 2 were at CLS and both barely scraped over the 80 mark so it is doubtful that the n b was takenin one case(81.4 by Somerset for 8 dec)The other instance was 82.1 by Sussex all out Harmy took the last wkt so I assume the n b was taken).

Durham lasted 80 overs+ on 11 occasions out of 28 innings started of which 4 were at CLS all well over the 80 mark.

The shortest completed innings at CLS by the opposition was 33.2 overs by Kent ( 2nd innings)Their 1st innings was the 2nd shortest at 39.5.

The 2009 season will take a bit longer.

As Martin Emmerson would say I have done the maths on the 2009 season.

The opposition lasted 80 overs+ on 13 out 30 innings.
5 out 16 innings at CLS and 8 out of 14 innings at their various homes.

Durham lasted 80 overs+ on 15 out 26 innings.
5 out of 13 innings at CLS and 10 out of 13 innings away

The shortest innings was by Somerset (28.2) at Taunton and the next was by Notts at TB (32.4).Ironically, the Taunton match was drawn.

These figures would suggest that despite the crushing lead that Durham had in the CC their bowlers were thwarted for longer on more occasions than in 2008 both at home and away.

Even at CLS the opposition managed to last 80 overs or more the same no of times as Durham but in more innings.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010:04:03:15:12:03 by southwood.

Quote:

668neighbourofthebeast
A friend has just joked that they will need to get the pitch inspectors in. It made me think: the Durham dodgy pitch effect - few teams ever get to a second new ball in an innings against us.
Or do they, there were a lot of short matches last year that we won and a lot of rain affected matches. Do many teams make to over 90 overs against us? Southwood......one for you?

Luckily Of course you knew I meant 80 overs Southwood..... I remember the Taunton match lost a day at least to rain, and Onions was on fire for that short innings, seeing Tres walking out to open twice in one day was quite something.

Splendid work on doing the maths! I was always@#$%&at stats, so I'm not sure if I can relate it to the Durham's magic dodgy pitch. [I suppose true pitch dodgyness is around 20 wickets in a day – so that shoul be in less than c40-45overs really?]


In general terms it does seem that any team playing Durham over the last couple of years has only a 40% or less chance of getting to a new ball in any one innings. So that is good, seeing the 2nd new ball against a Durham attack is a far less common occurrence than teams getting wiped out by by us with the original first ball . [In 2008 the opposition only had a 20% chance of getting to the new ball per innings!]

In 2009 Durham’s batting improved, managing a better than 50% chance of seeing the new ball in any one innings [57%].

For 2009; Playing at home at CLS, both Durham and the opposition had reduced chances of getting past 80 overs, even Durham had less than a 40% chance of seeing a new ball [still 7% better than the opposition, so a marginal advantage]

Playing away on their home grounds, the opposition had an improved chance of getting past 80 overs at 57%, but Durhams chances also increased rather more to 77%. I think this means that at the moment our batting can take advantage of flat tracks and our bowlers can still cope better than the home opposition bowlers can on their own turf. So we had more of an away advantage oddly??. [So using % chance of getting to the new ball as a measure means that the home advantage is less.]

But it also does not take into account the weather, if the match had enough time to finish or if there was a draw. the numbers are small so it's not that meaningful anyway. Also I have probably got something wrong somewhere, enough of this rubbish; I'm going to lie down now....

So taking probabilities the Abu pitch played much more like a flat track than a CLS dodgy…..And the MCC side was just@#$%&anyway.

I know this topic gets discussed every season but yet again BBC Newcastle are ignoring the Championship-hourly updates from home games is not good enough. Seems as if most other counties are better served by local radio. Is the relatively low profile of the Championship surprising when the local BBC station seems to regard it as unimportant compared to Twenty20?

The Beeb have not even decided on what they are going to cover in 2010 where Durham are concerned.

The man to contact is Doug Morris at BBC Radio Newcastle.Although he does not make the decisions he is the one who puts the plans together.

Sadly,I cannot find his e mail address.

See my message on the Essex thread but Essex say they are going to broadcast the Durham v Essex match.

Essex are doing home and away!!! Durham can't even do home - that is appalling!

We are the county champions and we have amongst the worst coverage.