As Durham have provided Paul Collingwood and Liam Plunkett, England’s two match winners in their fantastic one day series win over Australia, I hope the national team are going to show a bit more consideration to the county in the future.
Because the only thing Durham have got in return for their commitment to the national side so far is a harsh snub in the bid to hold an Ashes Test in 2009 and the loss of their best players.
Durham provided four players for international use this winter, Glamorgan provide none. Chester-le-Street gets a one day game against the Australians, Cardiff gets an Ashes Test. Nice touch.
The last time I looked, Cardiff wasn’t even part of England, as the Welsh are so keen to remind us, so why on earth do they get one of the biggest and most lucrative Test matches in world cricket?
Durham pride themselves on their youth development program and rightly so. It has taken the newest first class county in the country into the top division of the County Championship and it has, this winter, provided more players for the national side than any other county other than Lancashire.
As well as producing young players for their own benefit, Durham take even greater pride in seeing some of these North-East youngsters go on to represent their country, so let’s hope there is not a repeat of the dreadful treatment they received last season when Graham Onions was taken away from them for a crucial Championship match against Hampshire so that he could carry drinks for England’s one day side against Pakistan.
Already deprived of Steve Harmison, Plunkett and Collingwood, it was ridiculous to take Onions away when he was not even going to play and the England coaches just wanted to take a look at him in the nets.
There are also rumours that England stopped Harmison from playing in their final Championship match of the season against a Yorkshire, a game they had to at least draw to avoid relegation.
What is the point of investing so much time and energy into developing your own players if you are punished for the success and productivity of your Academy in this manner?
It is a strange quirk of cricket that the counties with the best players end up being penalised as, in the age of central contracts, England take control of their players and refuse to allow them to play for the county which produced and nurtured them.
But it is a quirk that Durham chief executive David Harker and coach Martyn Moxon accept because the overall health of the sport can only be measured by the success of the national side. That, though, does not mean their co-operation should be taken for granted.
While everyone in the region is thrilled for Collingwood following his double century in the Ashes and his match-winning performances in the last three one day games, the only time Durham supporters will get to see him play is when the Riverside hosts a Test match against the West Indies in June.
Harmison’s decision to retire from one day cricket should mean Durham get to see rather more of the Ashington Express than just a fleeting visit, but it remains to be seen what happens to Plunkett and Onions this season.
I do not expect Durham to see much of their international players as we all want the national team to do well and will do everything to help them succeed, it would just be nice if they got a bit something back in return.
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