Ryan Campbell has named a 15-player squad for Durham’s Rothesay County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire at Banks Homes Riverside. [11am]
Ben Stokes returns to the Durham squad and is in contention to make his third appearance of the season for the Club – in what could be his first appearance in Chester-le-Street since 2024
Stokes’s latest home appearance for Durham came against Worcestershire in June 2024 where he claimed three wickets alongside scoring a half-century in the first innings.
Campbell has named an otherwise unchanged squad to face a Northamptonshire side who sit second in the Division Two table, trailing Durham by 18 points with three wins, three draws and one loss so far this season.
Durham are looking to extend their unbeaten start to the 2026 County Championship to eight games, having picked up four wins and 126 points from the opening seven rounds.
David Bedingham is Division Two’s second top run-scorer with 677 runs while Ben Raine is the joint top wicket-taker in the division alongside James Anderson having claimed 36 poles this season.
Words from Ryan Campbell
For us to win in three days [against Derbyshire] is outstanding – it’s shown the evolution of this team, when you talk about us trying to get back to Division One. The graft and the hard work they put in with the bat on a wicket that was tricky after losing the toss and being put in – we sucked up our egos, and every little partnership counted.
And the way we went about our work with the ball was absolutely outstanding. We had constant pressure from both ends – it was awesome to watch.
We’re in a good position but there’s a long way to go, and we’ve got another tough game coming up against Northants. But all I can say to Northants is that they’re coming to our hood.
Squad v Northamptonshire (19-22 June)
Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge, David Bedingham, Graham Clark, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, James Minto, Duanne Olivier, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Luke Robinson, Ollie Robinson+, Ben Stokes.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Luke Procter
Head coach: Darren Lehmann
2025 finish: 7th
2025 highest run-scorer: Saif Zaib (1,425)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Calvin Harrison (36)
Key winter moves: South Australia batter Nathan McSweeney, just the second skipper to lift all three trophies in Australian domestic cricket, joins as Rothesay County Championship vice-captain fresh from winning the Sheffield Shield again. After a highly impressive loan stint in 2025, former Nottinghamshire leg-spinning all-rounder Calvin Harrison has signed a two-year deal, while explosive hitter Louis Kimber moves south from Leicestershire in search of more red-ball opportunities. Overseas bowlers Australian seamer Harry Conway and Indian international leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal return in early season and mid-summer respectively.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Head coach Darren Lehmann has called for greater consistency and more ruthlessness, asking batters to back up promising starts with telling scores that can drive games. The club have recruited well during the winter, adding all-round depth which should create competition for places. In a tough division can they kick on now and challenge for promotion after falling away following a promising start to 2025?
Aiming to catch Test selectors’ eye: Saif Zaib finished as county cricket’s leading run scorer last season with six centuries and will be looking to build on his breakout year and show Lions/Test selectors that he can back up that form. Calvin Harrison, who toured with the Lions in February, will also be knocking on the door.
Final thought: Northamptonshire have bolstered a talented but often fragile batting line-up, but a promotion challenge will require more consistency. It will be fascinating to see whether the promising youngsters who debuted last year can press for regular spots. The evergreen Ben Sanderson will again lead the attack but much will be expected of young quick Raphy Weatherall.
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 YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.