Durham head to New Road tomorrow (10:30am) to face Worcestershire in their penultimate LV=Insurance County Championship fixture, knowing 5 points will crown then 2023 Division 2 Champions.
Leicestershire’s failure to earn any batting bonus points against Sussex last week, meant Durham secured promotion without playing.
Durham now need a maximum of five points from their last two games to seal the Division Two title, which starts at New Road tomorrow.
Head Coach Ryan Campbell has named a 13-player squad for this week’s fixture at New Road, which includes the addition of Sri Lankan international quick Vishwa Fernando who is in line to make his Durham first-class debut tomorrow.
Paul Coughlin returns to the Durham squad and is back in contention having last been in 1st team action in August against Somerset in the Metro Bank one-day cup.
Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse are not available for selection with the Durham duo currently on England ODI duty for their series against Ireland which gets underway on Wednesday.
Worcestershire sit in second spot and lead the race for the second promotion spot, they have an 18-point gap over Sussex in third.
Durham last took on Worcestershire in the second round of games this season and it was Matthew Kuhnemann who claimed a five-wicket haul to guide Durham to a dramatic final-day victory.
The Pears required 314 to win from 70 overs after Durham declared. However, after being reduced to three for two, the visitors were in a desperate scramble to rescue a draw. Kuhnemann provided the impetus with his skillful left-arm spin, and was supported by Matthew Potts and Paul Coughlin to give Durham the win.
Words from Scott Borthwick
To be going into the final two games of the season needing 5 points to crowned Champions just shows how well we have played this season, first thing to be promoted with two games to go shows how well we have played this season.
I think getting our hands on the trophy would make us think now it really matters and because we have played really well this season, it hasn’t sunk in yet that we are almost there. If we win win this week or get the points we need and get the title, that will cap off what was has been a fantastic season, we really deserve it.
We are desperate to finish on a high. We don’t just want to get promoted, we want to win it, we want to get that winners medal and get our hands on a trophy. We want to be back in Division 1 and show people what Durham is all about.
Squad v Worcestershire [19-21 September]
David Bedingham, Scott Borthwick*, Jonathan Bushnell, Graham Clark, Paul Coughlin, Bas de Leede, George Drissell, Vishwa Fernando, Michael Jones, Alex Lees, Matt Parkinson, Ben Raine, Ollie Robinson.
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.