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Luke Edwards is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.

As well as football, Luke also regularly takes a wry look at the biggest sports stories from across the North-East and beyond. From cricket to rugby and basketball to boxing, some are criticised and some are praised.

Sometimes provocative, sometimes laugh-aloud funny, but always interesting Luke Who's Talking also gives you the chance to interact with Luke and have your say on all the major sporting issues.

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England's Loss Is Durham's Gain

Posted by Luke on July 18, 2008 1:56 PM | 

As is so often the case, one man's loss is another man's gain and while Paul Collingwood is a dejected figure after he was dropped by England on Friday, Durham's coach Geoff Cook will be - quietly at least - a happy man.

Not since an innings defeat to Sri Lanka in December 2003 have Durham failed to have a player in the England Test team and it is not something anyone at Chester-le-Street will be happy about.

But clouds, silver linings and all that jazz mean that, purely from a Durham perspective, Collingwood's demise and Steve Harmison's continued absence from the Test arena mean their county has never been in a stronger position.

Durham are on their way to victory against Surrey, a win which will put them top of the County Championship First Division. They are in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup and will be one of the favourites to win the Pro40 League in its penultimate year.

With Collingwood likely to be available for county games until mid-August, Cook will be able to slide him into the side alongside prolific opener Michael Di Venuto, ever-reliable captain Dale Benkenstein and arguably the world's best batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. It is no exaggeration to say that certain Test sides would love to be able to name a line-up like that.

With Harmison and another England Test player Liam Plunkett steaming in with the ball, Durham will have the strongest side in the country when Collingwood returns - at least on paper.

Of course, Collingwood will be hurt by the decision to drop him to make way for the talismanic Freddie Flintoff and of course Harmison will be wondering what more he has to do to earn a recall - the Ashington Express has taken more wickets than anybody else in the County Championship this season - but I still wouldn't say it is the end of their international careers.

Collingwood is still England's one day captain and had Harmison not been midway through Durham's Championship game against Surrey, the England selectors may well have called him up to replace the injured Ryan Sidebottom.

There have been whispers coming out of the Riverside that Harmison has given up on an England recall, but I hope this is not the case. Collingwood certainly won't give up and I can see both forcing their way back into the side - particularly if England lose the Second Test at Headingley, which is not beyond the realms of possibility.

But for now, let's hope they don't, stay with Durham and help them secure their first Championship title and a place in the lucrative Twenty20 Champions League in the autumn! I mean, come on, the Australians don't even arrive until 2009 so there is plenty of time for them to force their way back into things over the winter! Either that or go and earn a fortune in the IPL!

Comments (2)

Sy wrote...

I do feel for Colly being left out. But I can't help thinking that part of the problem he's having in the test team is that he's too good to bat at number six.

What I mean by that is that for my money, Flintoff is more of a number six in that at that stage of an innings, he can come in a grab you some quick runs if you're struggling before the tail comes in. Flintoff is the type that can grab you 50 from 50 or 60 balls on his day, whereas Colly is too pure a batsman to bat this way. He's a proper test match batsman who gets better the more chance he has to play himself in and build an innings. Batting at number six prevents him from doing this in the same way a three, four or even five can, because he knows that when the next wicket falls it opens up the tail and his time is more often than not going to be short lived.

I also think he's suffered from the wicket keeping issue. Oh for an Alec Stewart who opens and keeps. This would've meant Flintoff in for the injured Sidebottom to bat at seven.

All ifs and buts I know, but I'm backing Colly to come back soon. If Bell gets into sticky form again he'll be under more pressure I think, because he doesn't offer the bowling option that Colly does, shoulder problem or not, he always seems to cause a problem when things are going slow in the field.

Hopefully he'll enjoy the break from the pressure and speculation and get some good time in for Durham.

Keep your chin up, matey.

Posted by: Sy  | July 18, 2008 9:31 PM

zulu wrote...

Dear Luke,
sorry to say I told you so, but the Protea`s with Neil McKenzie playing a straight bat for hour after hour ground down Vaughan`s men. Pleased Colly came right, but amazed that Moores has kept his job after the Aussie bricklayer (or is he a roof tiler) got the nod ahead of Steve Jones and Steve H ???.
Final comment, if thats the best wickie that England have to their name, you`ll be back in South Africa stealing another one of our boys.... Pity Blenkenstein did not go over earlier as he is a really good captain, and was for a decade at NATAL.

Posted by: zulu  | August 5, 2008 4:25 PM

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