Durham return to red ball action tomorrow taking on Sussex at Banks Homes Riverside [11am] as the Rothesay County Championship Division One is back following a four week hiatus.
Ryan Campbell has named a 14-player squad for Sunday’s clash which includes Sam Conners and Bas de Leede who are both in line for their first red ball matches of the season.
This week’s game against Sussex and next week at the Kia Oval against Surrey will see Kookaburra balls used, before three rounds in September to finish the domestic summer.
Conners is in line to make his County Championship debut for the Club – but due to a side injury suffered in Zimbabwe the 26-year-old has not yet featured for his new county, having signed a two-year deal from Derbyshire during the winter.
Durham are without an overseas player for this round of games, with David Bedingham and Codi Yusuf on Test duty in Zimbabwe, while Neil Wagner is not yet available for selection having suffered a slight calf injury which rules him out of this block of Championship games.
Campbell’s side currently sit sixth in the Rothesay County Championship with two wins from seven and currently have 84 points, while newly promoted Sussex are third with three wins with 95 points.
Graham Clark is Durham’s leading run scorer in the red ball format with 501 runs going in the second block of games, while Ben Raine’s 25 wickets has him top of the wicket taking charts.
Words from Ryan Campbell
The guys have hit lots of balls over the last few weeks, so the red ball isn’t a huge change for us, we won’t be doing much on Saturday, the guys will have a light session then get back to it on Sunday morning.
Neil Wagner has broken down so we will be without him for a little while, and we are without David Bedingham due to South Africa’s Test tour of Zimbabwe so we won’t have any overseas players for this game.
This game will be a wonderful test, I am hoping Jofra Archer plays for Sussex, because we want our guys to play the best players and our players want to to play against the best. Sussex have a very good bowling attack, they are third on the ladder, this is going to be a really good challenge for us.
With an attack of Jofra Archer, Nathan McAndrew, Ollie Robinson it is going to be a very good test for us – which we are all looking forward to. For the first time all season I looked at the second team game going on against Warwickshire, which was a brilliant win, and I saw all our bowlers bowling, which we haven’t had all season.
Sam Conners, Paul Coughlin, Bas de Leede, Dan Hogg are all back to full fitness, so we have options then we have Matthew Potts and Ben Raine to chose from too. I reckon we will put a pretty good team together,
Squad v Sussex (22-25 June)
Colin Ackermann, Graham Clark, Paul Coughlin, Sam Conners, George Drissell, Bas de Leede, Emilio Gay, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Ollie Robinson+
Opposition Corner
Captain: John Simpson
Head Coach: Paul Fabrace
2024 finish: Champions (Division Two)
2024 highest run-scorer: John Simpson (1197)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Jack Carson (50)
Key winter moves: Ex-Somerset top-order batter George Thomas spent part of the winter working for a power-tool company in Melbourne. Farbrace regards him as a player with unfulfilled potential. After trials in January, another 21-year-old signed in slow left-armer Troy Henry whose wages for the first year of his contract will be paid by the ACE programme. Medium-fast bowler Nantes Oosthuizen, nurtured at Seaford College by former skipper Chris Adams, joined on a rookie contract.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Once again Paul Farbrace has recruited a group of solid, proven overseas players with Dan Hughes, Jayden Seales, Nathan McAndrew and Jaydev Unadkat all returning for a second – and in Unadkat’s case third – season while Australian seamer Gurinder Sandhu arrives during June and July. Their contributions will be pivotal to hopes of staying up and having another good run in the Blast, where they were semi-finalists last year.
Player to watch: Opener Tom Haines, who signed a new three-year deal in the winter, averages 37.60 and has made 4,588 first-class runs but none of them against Division One attacks. If he can flourish against better bowlers – and there’s never been any doubt about his technique or temperament – then it will help Sussex’s chances of establishing themselves in Division One a lot and perhaps enhance his claims for a Test place as well.
Final thought: Sussex return to Division One after a ten-year absence and Paul Farbrace has targeted a top-four finish. He’ll have a better idea of whether that’s achievable after the first month when Sussex face Warwickshire, Surrey, Somerset and Nottinghamshire – all established top-flight counties. There shouldn’t be many concerns about their bowling attack, but can Sussex score enough runs? Contributions from skipper John Simpson and a strong middle order may be crucial again.
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 Durham’s YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.