County’s survival hopes depend on veteran duo

Apr 18 2010 by Stuart Rayner, Sunday Sun

DURHAM have fond memories of their last follow-on.

It was September 2006 when the Riversiders were last asked to try again after being skittled for a big first-innings deficit.

At Headingley, the Riversiders pulled off a great escape, saving not only the match but their First Division status by half a point.

This time the stakes are not so high but coach Geoff Cook – never one to fall into hype – believes saving a 22-month unbeaten County Championship run against Essex today would be “almost like winning.”

Tottering at 4-2, 282 behind, it looked like Durham might have to pray for rain – or a whopping cloud of volcano ash. Instead, their saving grace came from the same source as four years ago.

In 2006 Dale Benkenstein combined with the old man of the team in a crucial 317-run partnership. He and 36-year-old Michael Di Venuto (in the Ottis Gibson role) have so far only added 143 but they look capable of plenty more.

Cook said: “The partnership has given us something really positive to play for.

“It was looking like an innings defeat after three overs of the second innings but the two guys pulled it around.

“We can set our sights and targets and hopefully achieve them. If we do, it is almost like winning the game.”

As Jaik Mickleburgh and James Foster showed in their two-day stand of 339, this is not a minefield of a Riverside pitch.

The odd one has kept low, but if batsmen stay in long enough to adjust to its plodding pace it holds few fears.

Neither did an Essex attack minus the mysteries of wrist-spinner Danish Kaneria.

David Masters bowled good lines, Graham Napier was fired up and Tim Phillips got just enough turn, but it was hardly 11-wickets-in-a-day stuff.

It did not look that way at the start when Will Smith was in scratchy form but hanging in.

He survived a difficult opening spell from Masters and Napier, and once they finished Coetzer did what he had in both his previous first-class innings this year, and passed 50, 42 coming through the offside.

Ryan ten Doeschate did to Coetzer what Liam Plunkett had done to him the previous day – getting one to move in and keep low, and pinning him lbw.

Once the 91-run partnership was broken, Durham’s last nine wickets fell for 74.