Durham host Northamptonshire Steelbacks at 6:30pm tomorrow at Banks Homes Riverside in their final Vitality Blast group game of the summer.
Durham face the Steelbacks in a thrilling Friday night showdown, with the winner securing a top two finish in the North Group and a home quarter-final in early September.
Men’s Head Coach Ryan Campbell has returned to Australia with our deepest condolences following a family bereavement. Graham Onions will stand in as Interim Men’s Head Coach until Campbell’s return.
A squad of 14 has been named with Durham welcoming back Ben Raine from injury. Raine returns from an ankle injury sustained at the Kia Oval in late June.
Durham are in third place with 30 points, just behind second-placed Northants who sit on 32 points in a very tight North Group.
Durham could still qualify without victory tomorrow night but would be reliant on results elsewhere whereas the Steelbacks are likely to qualify regardless of the result.
Durham claimed victory by 15 runs in the reverse fixture in Northampton, posting 157/8 on a tricky surface before pulling the hosts back in their innings, limiting Northants to 142/8.
Words from Ryan Campbell
It’s a bit disappointing to be washed out against Leicestershire, but you can’t control the weather, unfortunately.
The silver lining is that we’ve played such good cricket up to this point that we’re still in control of our own destiny. If you had to win your last two games, we’d be shattered. But, at the end of the day, on Friday it’s winner takes all (for a home quarter-final versus Northamptonshire).
It’s brilliant. This competition, particularly the North Group, has been such a competitive affair. You’ve seen everyone beat everyone.
As a team, we’ve developed our strategies pretty well (in this season’s Blast). We’ve had guys play good cricket without being unbelievable. We’ve had such a good team effort all the way down the list, that’s been the exciting part.
Squad v Northants Steelbacks (18 July)
Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge, David Bedingham, Graham Clark, Sam Conners, Bas de Leede, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Ollie Robinson+, Nathan Sowter
Opposition Corner
Captain: David Willey
Overseas players: Matt Breetzke (South Africa, all group stage), Lloyd Pope (Australia, all group stage)
Finals Day appearances: Four (2009, 2013, 2015, 2016)
Titles: Two (2013, 2016)
2024 finish: Quarter-finals
2024 leading runscorer: Matt Breetzke (460)
2024 leading wicket taker: David Willey (16)
Key winter moves: The Steelbacks moved quickly to re-sign two stars of last year’s run to the quarter-finals, with leading run scorer South African international Matthew Breetzke and veteran England all-rounder Ravi Bopara both returning to Wantage Road. Leg-spinner Lloyd Pope, recently named in the Big Bash Team of the Tournament, joins after fellow Australian Ashton Agar was ruled out through injury.
The big question: Northamptonshire’s batting frailties were much in evidence during the Rothesay County Championship. Will the change in format and addition of experienced hands in Willey, Breetzke and Bopara inspire the crop of talented young guns to fire? They will be buoyed by the excellent form of Saif Zaib whose all-round contributions played an important role last summer.
Wildcard watch: Young quick Raphy Weatherall, a former England Under-19 star, showed maturity behind his years in his debut senior season last summer and was entrusted with key overs in the Blast. Returning from injury this season he has clearly put on an extra yard of pace and has caused real problems for opposition batters in the Championship.
Final thought: Darren Lehmann and Willey make a formidable head coach and captain pairing with a wealth of international and franchise trophies to their names and will look to mastermind a second consecutive Steelbacks run to the knockout stages. Bopara proved talismanic in 2024 with bat and ball and while Northamptonshire will miss Agar’s runs, they swiftly secured the dangerous mystery spin of Pope in a like-for-like swap. Ben Sanderson’s accuracy and Weatherall and George Scrimshaw’s pace add potency with the ball.
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 the match will also be available on Durham’s YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.