First home win for Durham
Durham v Somerset at Darlington. 2, 3, 4 June 1992
Somerset 270 (AN Hayhurst 76, MN Lathwell 53) and 192-6 dec. (MN Lathwell 50) Durham 250-8 dec. (CW Scott 57*) and 213-2 (W Larkins 92, DM Jones 78)
Durham won by eight wickets
Durham 23 points, Somerset 6 points
WG Grace played at the Feethams ground in Darlington in 1873, but it was not until 1992 that the old ground hosted a first-class match. Durham, in their inaugural season in the County Championship, made use of five different venues for their home fixtures. There was a wave of enthusiasm for cricket in the north-east with the county announcing, during the match, that full membership was closed with 6,000 signed up
Ian Botham was away on Test match duty so there was a second appearance for 17-year-old allrounder, Paul Henderson, who had been unavailable because of GCSE examinations. Somerset batted first, having won the toss, and the openers, Andy Hayhurst and Mark Lathwell, looked in no difficulty on an easy-paced pitch as they added 96. At 150 for one, the situation appeared ominous for Durham. Simon Brown, who at the time was the leading wicket-taker in the country, then bowled Richard Harden. In seven overs, Paul Henderson took three middle-order wickets and with Brown striking again after the tea interval Somerset were dismissed well short of what they were anticipating earlier in the day.
On a rain interrupted second day Durham were in danger of conceding a significant lead when they slipped to 160 for six, with opening batter, John Glendenen, absent ill. Wicketkeeper, Chris Scott then marshalled the tail as he made his maiden first-class 50 for Durham. Having secured a third bonus point, David Graveney declared 20 runs behind in the hope that Somerset would set Durham a target on the third and final day.
For much of the day, this didn’t seem likely to happen as Somerset pottered along at less than three runs per over. Mark Lathwell, viewed as a young batter with huge potential, but ultimately an unfulfilled talent, scored his second half-century of the match. Then, to general surprise, Chris Tavaré suddenly declared setting Durham a target of 213 to win in 42 overs.
Dean Jones opened with Wayne Larkins and within 33 overs they had added 175. Although they were both dismissed, Durham got over the line with three overs and eight wickets to spare. Jones was full of credit for his partner expressing amazement that he had not enjoyed a more successful England career. Tavaré denied having miscalculated his declaration and praised the opening pair.
It was Durham’s first home Championship win and took them to fourth in the table. Unfortunately, that was as good as it was going to get as the long season took its toll on the newcomers.