Durham in need of fresh impetus

May 2 2010 by Stuart Rayner, Sunday Sun

A CHANGE might not be quite as good as a rest for Durham’s shattered cricketers, but captain Will Smith will be glad of it today.

The back-to-back county champions have already spent a whopping 541.2 overs chasing leather in three games which have been torture for their bowlers.

With eight players injured, there will be plenty taking on Kent today and Leicestershire tomorrow in the Clydesdale Bank 40 who have not been through all that – and Smith believes their freshness will help everyone.

Smith, who has called seamer Luke Evans back from a loan at Northamptonshire, said: “It can be refreshing to have different faces in the dressing room.

“The guys we have coming in are keen to push their case. They are lively in the field and enthusiastic with plenty of energy, so that is a great plus point.”

Even if they had not been injured, the likes of Michael Di Venuto and Stephen Harmison would probably have sat out this weekend’s games.

However, Smith insists it is not Durham taking the 40-over competition lightly – the opposite in fact.

He added: “There are not any changes done for the sake of giving someone a game. We believe this is a competition we can win.

“If we keep picking up injuries that might curtail that, but we still have players who can win us games.

“Whenever we play we set out to win, but we have so many injuries we need to balance out having a winning side and making sure we are not subjecting people in need of a break to games they should nott really be playing in.”

The cracks in a Durham team which looked invincible last season are already starting to show over four days.

Mark Davies has bowled in all three Championship games without a wicket. He has not yet rediscovered the spark which earned a call-up to England’s winter tour of South Africa.

Liam Plunkett’s bowling continues to mix the sublime and the ridiculous, although if scans on his ribs show the worst it could be a while before he is next in Durham colours.