What Has Gone Wrong At Durham?
I'm not sure what the biggest concern is at Durham this summer, a fading defence of the County Championship or the brilliantly dull new name for the Riverside.
When Durham launched a competition to rename the County Ground last month I had visions of something romantic involving Prince Bishops, but what we got was the corporate monstrosity the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground.
It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it? It doesn't really fit into the space constraints of a newspaper like The Journal either and I can't imagine radio commentators are going to stick to it given how laboured it sounds.
So the basic requirements of the renaming were to make sure Emirates - the new club sponsors - were prominent without falling into the trap of calling it the Emirates Stadium because that is already the home of Arsenal FC.
Apparently, it was also necessary to explain where the stadium is - Durham - while also explaining what the stadium is used for. Not just cricket, nope, but international cricket.
The only positive thing I can say is that all of those boxes have been ticked, although we are apparently allowed to abbreviate it to Emirates Durham ICG or Emirates Durham, even though most supporters will continue to call it the Riverside regardless!
As for the team, there was a far better performance against Warwickshire last week after the shambolic defeat by Kent at the then Riverside, but a third successive title already looks beyond them.
So what has gone wrong? Well, nothing major really. With so many injuries to so many bowlers, Durham's back up attack simply didn't have the experience or the skill to bail the batsmen out of trouble when they didn't score enough runs.
Last season, all former skipper Will Smith had to do was toss the ball to Steve Harmison or Graham Onions and they would tear through the opposition's top order with Callum Thorp, Mark Davies and Ian Blackwell doing the rest.
This year, Onions hasn't been able to play and probably won't all season because of a back injury and Harmison has never been fully fit.
With Thorp and Davies also out, Durham have lacked firepower with the ball and, in turn, the batsmen haven't scored the runs they are supposed to. When one half of the team is struggling it is remarkable how often the other does as well.
Cricket is a very simple game which is often over complicated. Durham have relied too heavily on Michael Di Venuto and Dale Benkenstein for the last three years and when they fail, too often, so do Durham.
Nevertheless, just because they are failing to match the heights of last year, Durham have not suddenly become a poor team.
With players coming back from injury and with Ben Stokes emerging as a special talent with the bat, they can still mount a title push with so much Championship cricket still to play.
They probably can't afford to lose again given leaders Nottinghamshire have played a game less, but they have a point to prove after so much criticism this year and it will be interesting to see how they react when they play Warwickshire again at the end of the month at the Emirates Durham ICG.
In the meantime, we have to make do with Twenty20 overkill. Durham have played one, lost one and drawn the other because of heavy rain without a ball being bowled. They still have another 12 games to go in the Group Stage!
They have a decent side on paper, but it is impossible to predict how they will do because nothing is certain in the shortest form of the game. Just look at England's World Cup win after the almost lost to Ireland in the Group Stage!
If I was to hazard a guess I'd say they will finish in mid-table and everyone will be thoroughly bored of Twenty20 cricket by the time they do!
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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.
Luke,
It is not just the injuries.Many of the team do not look fit and there have been eye witness reports of some on field dissent. That coupled, with the Chairman untimely whinge about the manipulation of fixture list seemingly as a diversion from the on field problems and the Director of Cricket's rant about the amount of T20, suggest that there may be more going on behind the scenes.
No one,either from the club or in the media,has talked about the relationship between the injuries and general levels of physical fitness at the start of the season but it is a topic that is being discussed by those that watch Durham's travails on the field.
Also get your facts correct. Notts had played the same number of games as Durham when you wrote the blog and I believe they still have 14 group games to play in T20(as at 9th June)not 12 as you have stated,unless the fixture list is wrong.
Yes it is 14 games, you're right, sorry! That aside, you raise some interesting points here. The on field dissent has been noted, and probably played a large part in Will Smith's removal as captain. Several of the senior players appeared to be resentful of his position, although I won't name names. The problems at two and three in the batting line up have also been highlighted by myself in the past, although I still think Mark Stoneman can solve the problem at the top of the order. However, I'd still like to see the club sign an overseas player to bat at three, something they are still reluctant to do unfortunately. As for general fitness, Thorp has always had little niggles, Harmison's body is increasingly fragile, Graham Onions was injured on England duty and Mark Davies was rushed back too soon after ankle surgery. I don't think these injuries point to a lack of general fitness in the Durham camp, it's just bad luck they all came together.
Luke
A comment from a yorks supporter who was at the T20 at Headingley a few days ago.
"After attending the Yorks v Durham T20 - If Will Smith, Phil Mustard, Mitch Claydon, Ian Fatwell and Steve Harmison spent more time in the gym and less time in the boozer/takeaway then Durham might have another good season. The above 5 are making Anthony McGrath look like he's a size 8."
I am surprised by the inclusion of smith in that list but the observation is telling.