Durham Men will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in the Rothesay County Championship when they take on Somerset tomorrow at Banks Homes Riverside.
Ryan Campbell’s side will be aiming for their third win of the campaign as they get set for their final red ball fixture ahead of the Vitality Blast starting next week.
Campbell has named a 14-player squad to face Somerset which includes two additions to the squad which was in contention to take on Nottinghamshire.
Mitchell Killeen and Callum Parkinson return to the squad – with Killeen in contention to make his County Championship debut. He also returns to the squad on the back of three wickets for the Professional County Club Select XI against Zimbabwe last week.
David Bedingham remains in the squad and is in contention to play having not been cleared by South Africa ahead of the Nottinghamshire game last week.
Brydon Carse has been withdrawn by England as the Three Lions prepare for their white ball series against West Indies which kicks off next Thursday at Edgbaston.
Durham sit in fourth in the Rothesay County Championship Division One table with 80 points while Somerset are seventh with 73 points having won two of their games so far this term.
Words from Ryan Campbell
I reckon we’ve played some really good cricket this year without being our best. I think we’ve controlled games of cricket without being able to finish them off, you saw that against Warwickshire.
In our last game, yes Notts batted really well on the first day, but in between there was a lot of good bowling for us. We knew that we had to bat well and actually before the game we said that someone has got to set a personal best, I didn’t quite realise the club needed to break its own record.
I don’t think we’ve had the same bowling attack two weeks in a row to be honest. We are down to the bare cupboards, that’s no disrespect to the guys playing, but we don’t have anymore back-ups, this is it. For them to come out, churn away and do a great job on a really good batting wicket is fantastic to see.
(on Ollie Robinson) You’ve just got to remind these guys that they haven’t lost their ability. Ollie Robinson’s been unbelievable for us over the time I’ve been here, he’s had a little run of outs which probably started towards the end of last year and he’s come out this year and probably hasn’t got what he wanted, but Ollie’s done the hard yards, he’s worked hard to get himself back into form.
Squad v Somerset (23-26 May)
Colin Ackermann, David Bedingham, Graham Clark, George Drissell, Emilio Gay, Mitchell Killeen, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, Callum Parkinson, James Minto, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Ollie Robinson+, Codi Yusuf
Opposition Corner
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Head Coach: Jason Kerr
2024 finish: Third
2024 highest run-scorer: Tom Lammonby (941)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Jack Leach (45)
Key winter moves: New Zealand seamer Matt Henry is expected to rejoin the club for seven Championship games, starting with the second round of matches against Sussex at Hove, subject to recovery from shoulder and knee problems. South African all-rounder Migael Pretorius has been re-signed for the whole of the 2025 season and should be available for all formats, strengthening both the batting and bowling departments.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: How Will Smeed will adapt to Championship cricket. At the age of 23, the scorer of the first-ever century in The Hundred has changed his mind about concentrating solely on white-ball cricket and is ready to add his considerable skills to a Somerset team who have struggled for consistent top-order runs in the four-day format. Smeed may have to be patient in awaiting his chance, but provides a hugely talented new option for a top six batting place.
Final thought: Somerset are employing a Performance Psychologist this season and much could depend on how the players respond mentally to the bitter disappointment of making a sustained challenge for all three domestic trophies last season without winning any of them. The finale of that campaign proved a huge anti-climax, but the team still finished third in the Championship and there is no reason why they should not be up there fighting for a first ever title 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.