The Durham Second XI side will be looking for a more consistent second half to the 2013 season with former coach Jon Lewis admitting his young side should be winning more games in the three day competition.
Lewis has now taken over the coaching of the Firsts team due to the absence of Geoff Cook but spoke about the Seconds team which he has coached for the first half of the season.
“We have come up short against sides we probably should have beaten so will be looking for more wins as the season progresses because developing players need to learn how to win not just how to play,” Lewis said.
Despite not registering the desired points the team has played some good cricket but consistency over three days seems to be the key for Lewis’ side.
“It is a bit of a sporting cliché but our performances don’t always reflect our results.” Lewis said.
“We haven’t been brilliant in three day cricket. We haven’t been strong enough to perform consistently in the three days, we have had periods in the three days where we have been good and performed up to the level but we haven’t done it consistently which is something we need to improve on.”
The side have had a couple of solid three day games including a match against Nottinghamshire where they we were in a very strong position until rain washed away their chances of a victory. Durham had set Nottingham a 300 plus run chase after Keaton Jennings starred with the bat making large scores in both innings.
Durham spinners Max Morley and Ryan Buckley were bowling well and had Nottingham 90-5 chasing the large total when rain hit, denying Durham a potential win.
They also played out an entertaining match at Brandon Cricket Club against MCC Young cricketers and got close to chasing down 330 in 58 overs but lost a couple of wickets and ran out of steam and ended up with the draw in a tense finish.
On a more positive note the side have performed well in the T20 competition which includes 8 matches over a 2-3 week period to break up the three day season culminating in a T20 finals day next Friday.
Starting the shorter format with fixtures against Yorkshire, Durham claimed a win and a loss with Lewis saying his side learnt a lot from these matches which saw them win five of their next six T20s.
Taking a very young side to play Nottingham, Durham recorded two impressive wins and backed this up with a win and a loss against Lancashire.
They then defeated Derbyshire in their final two matches to qualify for T20 finals day at Arundel on July 12th.
Alongside the youngsters the experienced Gordon Muchall , who plays second team cricket to give him time at the crease in preparation for the Yorkshire Bank 40 and Friends Life T20, continues to show his consistent form with the bat and paceman Jamie Harrison is showing some positive signs as he returns from a long term injury having taken consistent wickets in the T20 matches so far giving his confidence a boost for the second part of the season and chances of Friends Life t20 selection.
The second team is a pivotal part of the club providing a dual role-to win games of cricket to keep the mentality of a winning club but also as a platform to produce players who can perform at First Class level.
This has been a real positive of the last few seasons with numerous young players developing their game and making the move into the First Class side.
Ryan Buckley, Ryan Pringle, Michael Richardson, Mark Wood and Keaton Jennings headline a fresh crop who have gone up into the Firsts team and made contributions immediately and there are several more youngsters chopping at their heels.
A trio of 20-year olds, Seconds team Captain Usman Arshad, spinner Max Morley and Rammy Singh have all been performing in both forms of the game and have been catching the attention of Head Coach Geoff Cook and it won’t be long no doubt until we see their names in the First Class setup.