Durham head to Worcestershire searching for a first win of the season at New Road in the Rothesay County Championship.
Ryan Campbell has named a squad of 15 for the trip, featuring new overseas signing Codi Yusuf along with loan signings Jake Ball and Jack Blatherwick.
All three bowlers are in contention to make their first-class debuts for Durham after signing for the club earlier this week.
Mitchell Killeen and George Drissell will join up with the squad in Worcester, having been in Second XI action earlier this week.
Durham face a Worcestershire side who are also without a win this season, falling to a 28-run defeat against Essex last time out.
Words from Ryan Campbell
I take a whole lot of positives out of this. The facts are that we came into the Yorkshire game losing the first couple but playing pretty well whilst not quite nailing it.
When you’re playing against a good team like Yorkshire, to be on top for most of those three-and-a-half days, it’s really pleasing. Things aren’t quite going our way. We had to battle in that second innings with two of our bowlers down, and it’s hard work.
I think that Worcestershire are a fantastic club who never give up, you’ve seen that in the opening round of the season. We have a massive amount of respect for them and for the team that they’ve assembled.
We see some openings as well; we will try and open them up and pick apart what they’ve got. We’re going to come all guns blazing with a positive attitude and play our brand of cricket, so if they’re not ready for it then good luck to them.
Squad v Worcestershire 25-28 April
Colin Ackermann, Jake Ball, Jack Blatherwick, Graham Clark, Brendan Doggett, George Drissell, Emilio Gay, Mitchell Killeen, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Ollie Robinson+, Codi Yusuf
Opposition Corner
Captain: Brett D’Oliveira
Head Coach: Alan Richardson
2024 finish: Sixth
2024 highest run-scorer: Kashif Ali (767)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Tom Taylor, Joe Leach, Nathan Smith (all 27 wickets)
Key winter moves: All-rounder, Ben Allison, and spinner, Fateh Singh, have signed three-year deals after moving from Essex and Nottinghamshire respectively following successful loan spells at Visit Worcestershire New Road. Pace bowler, Jacob Duffy, is the latest in a lengthy line of New Zealanders to enjoy a spell with Worcestershire. He is available for Rothesay County Championship and Vitality Blast cricket throughout the first half of the summer until the end of June.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Worcestershire were the bookies favourites last summer to make an instant return to Division Two but achieved their highest finish since the competition was split into two divisions in 2000. They aimed from pre-season for a top six spot rather than just survive and the positive attitude and never-say-die spirit demanded by club captain Brett D’Oliveira, despite several key injuries, will again be at the fore in 2025 and there is more depth to the squad to give genuine hope of securing a third successive year in the top flight.
Player to watch: Although he has spent several winters playing franchise cricket plus The Hundred, Adam Hose is determined to make his mark in the red-ball format. One the reasons he moved from Warwickshire was to have more Championship opportunities and Hose has played 25 of 28 four-day games and, although lacking consistency, has made several vital contributions including in the 2024 memorable away wins over Durhan and Essex.
Final thought: Worcestershire know they will have to again perform well to have a realistic chance of maintaining Division One status with newly-promoted Yorkshire and Sussex both looking strong. But, despite go-to pace bowler Joe Leach retiring, there is genuine belief they will not be whipping boys especially if they avoid what was at times a shockingly lengthy injury list in 2024, particularly in the bowling department. The likes of Jake Libby, Gareth Roderick and Kashif Ali are capable of providing ample runs at the top of the order but they also have a posse of all-rounders like Matthew Waite, Tom Taylor and Ben Allison which mean they bat very deep.
Match Centre
The Club’s match centre will be in operation for the fixture with live scorecards, statistics & video highlights as they happen. You can watch the game live via Durham’s match centre and Worcestershire YouTube channel, Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.