The Rothesay County Championship concludes this week as Durham head to Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground to round off a successful Division Two campaign against Lancashire.
Emilio Gay has been named in Ryan Campbell’s 14-player squad and is set for his first appearance in the County Championship since May – after playing in all six of England’s Test matches against New Zealand and Pakistan.
Ben Raine and Ben Stokes have been rested for Durham’s final match of the 2026 season whilst Shafiqullah Ghafari returns to the 14.
Division Two winners Durham are looking to claim a 10th win of the season in the red ball format and become the first unbeaten champions since the Red Rose in 2019.
Steven Croft’s side sit seventh in the table on 103 points ahead of round 14 having picked up two wins and three draws this season.
Matthew Potts remains the top wicket taker in Division Two with 60 scalps while Ben McKinney is closing in on 1,000 County Championship runs in a season for the first time, having scored 973 runs so far this term.
Words from Ryan Campbell
It was going to be a really good game of cricket against Worcestershire. Both sides still had a chance to win the game but the weather finally came and it was probably too wet to continue but we’ve put ourselves in a position where it didn’t really matter what happened in the last couple of games and that’s a credit to what we’ve done.
It was very easy to get the lads ready for Worcestershire. We have a group who understand that our standards weren’t where they should have been at certain points last season.
So we’ve worked really hard to get them back to where we want them to be and to push beyond that. Whenever we cross the white line now, we have to maintain those standards
It will be a test going to Manchester but I expect the eleven blokes who take the field to be ready to go.
Squad v Lancashire (24-27 September)
Colin Ackermann, Mayank Agarwal, Kasey Aldridge, Brydon Carse, Graham Clark, Emilio Gay, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, Duanne Olivier, Callum Parkinson, Mathew Potts, Will Rhodes, Ollie Robinson+.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Sir James Anderson
Head coach: Steven Croft
2025 finish: 5th
2025 leading run-scorer: Luke Wells (1,074)
2025 leading wicket-taker: George Balderson (40)
Key winter moves: Former captain Steven Croft has been appointed permanent head coach after an interim spell during the second half of 2025 and Sir James Anderson as Rothesay County Championship skipper. Ajeet Singh Dale and Paul Coughlin have arrived to bolster the fast-bowling stocks, with Australia A quick Mitch Perry signing an early-season overseas deal. Perry joins Victoria teammate Marcus Harris, the prolific batter who is halfway through a two-year overseas contract. Seamer Will Williams has gone to Gloucestershire.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: A promotion push. The Red Rose start the summer as favourites to win Division Two, and it’s no surprise. They struggled to get out of the blocks last season and, despite finishing well, had left themselves with too much to do. Keaton Jennings resigned as red-ball captain in May, while Dale Benkenstein left his role as head coach. Things look a lot more settled now, which should boost chances of a faster start.
Aiming to catch Test selectors’ eye: New recruit Ajeet Singh Dale, from Gloucestershire, made two England Lions appearances in 2024 and 2025. He’s within four wickets of 100 in his Championship career. With significant pace and skill, and at the age of 25, he has every chance of breaking into the Test match plans if he can hit the ground running at Emirates Old Trafford.
Final thought: Steven Croft, who has added ex-England quick Kabir Ali to his backroom staff as the new bowling coach, wants success across the board in 2026. He aims to convert an excellent record of reaching Vitality Blast Finals Days into silverware, for example. But he did recently admit one goal stands above the rest, saying: “We want to win the County Championship, and we can’t do that in Division Two. The main goal is promotion.”
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 the Lancashire Cricket YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.