Colly hails club's heroes

Aug 20 2007 by Andy Fletcher, Evening Chronicle

JUBILANT Paul Collingwood believes 15 years is no time to wait for Durham’s maiden first-class trophy, (writes NICK PUREWAL).

The England one-day captain reckons from inception to Lord’s success in just a decade and a half is the fruit of the labours of everyone ever involved with the club in that period.

He paid tribute to all the players and staff who have made it happen, and said he could not have been happier for coach Geoff Cook when he lifted the trophy.

He said: “This is early days for a new county to get success like this.

“To progress so much and get that team spirit and the ambition and everything else about the club is a real positive.

“I started in 1996 and I think we only won one one-day game in the whole season, and that was pretty tough.

“But when you look back these are all kind of building blocks.

“And obviously Geoff Cook has been there from the start, so to see him lifting that trophy up was a special moment.”

Collingwood struggled for fluency with the bat on Saturday, only finding 22 runs before Dale Benkenstein opened up and took the Durham innings to lofty heights.

But on Sunday lunchtime it was he and Liam Plunkett who finished off the job, ending on three wickets apiece.

And the Shotley Bridge man said nothing gives him and the team more pride than to do it all for the fans and public back home.

He said: “It is fantastic for the North East – it is great for the area to go back with a trophy.

“It means a lot to everybody.

“The support on Saturday was phenomenal, it was amazing.

“And it’s great for the people who have been in it from the beginning and built the club up.

“For us as players to go back and say ‘here’s some silverware’ it’s just brilliant.

“It’s a lot better spectacle if it finishes in a day and it would have been nicer from a player’s point of view, too.

“But that doesn’t matter too much to us!

“I am sure the boys will go and celebrate pretty hard now, and thoroughly deserve to as well.”

Warming up and preparing on both mornings, Collingwood expected some jitters – but he said he looked around his team mates and all he saw was determination.

He said: “For a first Lord’s final for Durham you would expect a few nerves around the dressing room, and I am sure there were, but nobody showed any at all.

“And the performance was exceptional. It’s a very good Hampshire side, with a lot of stars and to beat them by 125 runs, full credit goes to all the players and backroom staff involved.

“Our team ethic has been built up over the last 15 years – we have had a lot of ups and downs at the club and we have learned a lot.

“And I think we proved during this match that we can pull it all together when we have to.

“Ottis (Gibson) epitomises that team spirit – people really want to be there, to play for Durham and that counts for a lot.”