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Durham Departures 2024


Crazy.

So they've let - Sol Bell, Doneathy and Bushnell go?

You have no idea the amount of time the cricket club spent on their development, building sides around them at Cricket Board level etc - only to ditch them without an after thought.

What a waste.
Without an after thought? Its doneathy has played a handful of games at most since our 50 over finals appearance, they've all been here years. What makes you say no thought what into it?
 
Has the retained list been released yet?
It's not club practise to release one-particularly with those on development contracts which expire.
Crazy.

So they've let - Sol Bell, Doneathy and Bushnell go?

You have no idea the amount of time the cricket club spent on their development, building sides around them at Cricket Board level etc - only to ditch them without an after thought.

What a waste.
The difficulty is youngsters are only allowed to be on development contracts for 2 years then have to be given full contracts. I don't think any of the above developed sufficiently to merit full contracts.
 
It's not club practise to release one-particularly with those on development contracts which expire.

The difficulty is youngsters are only allowed to be on development contracts for 2 years then have to be given full contracts. I don't think any of the above developed sufficiently to merit full contracts.
Should imagine there’ll also be some kind of minimum wage stipulation as well which will be a key factor on whether the young uns are worth keeping on 🤔
 
The difficulty is youngsters are only allowed to be on development contracts for 2 years then have to be given full contracts. I don't think any of the above developed sufficiently to merit full contracts.
I've said on another thread that the County Championship should be expanded by two teams. Sounds bonkers with the pressure on it I know. Two extra teams in the second division, one Northern, one Southern based, that are specifically for those players that haven't quite made it at the other 18 counties for various reasons, have been released and would in all probability be lost to the professional game. It always seems harsh on a good player who has maybe been in a system for 10 years but has suffered an unfortunate injury at the 'wrong' time for their career to effectively end. I'm sure there are also fringe players whose ''face doesn''t fit' at many clubs who end up being released who would relish another chance.
 
We do not need any more "County" sides, 18 is more than enough. What doesn't happen with youngsters released by Durham is that they get taken on by any of the other 17 "employers".
Every year, at this time, people come on this forum saying how good a cricketer a certain player is,and should not have been released.
How many go "on trial" to other Counties and get offered a contract ? Not many.
Maybe Cricket is no longer their preferred occupation ?
Maybe they do not want to move elsewhere ?
Plenty ex Durham youngsters playing league cricket locally.
It is tough in professional sport, yes, an injury could finish you and/or a "fall out" with a coach, but there are 17 more counties if they still want to play top level cricket.
Heard recently that Ross Whitfield was trialling at Sussex, good luck to the lad.
 
I've said on another thread that the County Championship should be expanded by two teams. Sounds bonkers with the pressure on it I know. Two extra teams in the second division, one Northern, one Southern based, that are specifically for those players that haven't quite made it at the other 18 counties for various reasons, have been released and would in all probability be lost to the professional game. It always seems harsh on a good player who has maybe been in a system for 10 years but has suffered an unfortunate injury at the 'wrong' time for their career to effectively end. I'm sure there are also fringe players whose ''face doesn''t fit' at many clubs who end up being released who would relish another chance.
There used to be the MCC Young Cricketers, now sadly lost to history. That is where Jamie Porter was before Essex picked him up!
 
Still not convinced over Killen, had a couple of injuries recently i know, but never seemed to set the world on fire when he has played, He was in the same age group as junior as my mates lad and seemed to be another than got the opportunities because of their surname not necessarily their talent
 
We do not need any more "County" sides, 18 is more than enough. What doesn't happen with youngsters released by Durham is that they get taken on by any of the other 17 "employers".
Every year, at this time, people come on this forum saying how good a cricketer a certain player is,and should not have been released.
How many go "on trial" to other Counties and get offered a contract ? Not many.
Maybe Cricket is no longer their preferred occupation ?
Maybe they do not want to move elsewhere ?
Plenty ex Durham youngsters playing league cricket locally.
It is tough in professional sport, yes, an injury could finish you and/or a "fall out" with a coach, but there are 17 more counties if they still want to play top level cricket.
Heard recently that Ross Whitfield was trialling at Sussex, good luck to the lad.
With respect I think you are entirely wrong.
 
Should imagine there’ll also be some kind of minimum wage stipulation as well which will be a key factor on whether the young uns are worth keeping on 🤔
TBF they should have developed sufficiently the amount of time spent on them.

Or put another way the DCB coaches should have identified that they weren't going to make it far earlier than they did. these were absolute stand out cricketers right the way through from 8 or 9 years old. Sol Bell was given one professional game and ditched. Bushnell like Bell was a brilliant bat.

But what's done is done.

Hope Johnny gets fixed up with the career he wants as he is a cracking lad.
 
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Tough for local batters now with us importing a number of top order players. McKinney did well getting that biggun which I guess the others needed to do aswell, but in past years they would have had more chance than they seem to get these days.

I'm all for us being competitive, I just think we maybe went 1 or 2 too many on the import front this year.
 
Tough for local batters now with us importing a number of top order players. McKinney did well getting that biggun which I guess the others needed to do aswell, but in past years they would have had more chance than they seem to get these days.

I'm all for us being competitive, I just think we maybe went 1 or 2 too many on the import front this year.
Here's a list for our top run scorers in FC mainly since 2000 onwards.

It's 50/50 in the top 30 between homegrown and imported.

 
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I've said on another thread that the County Championship should be expanded by two teams. Sounds bonkers with the pressure on it I know. Two extra teams in the second division, one Northern, one Southern based, that are specifically for those players that haven't quite made it at the other 18 counties for various reasons, have been released and would in all probability be lost to the professional game. It always seems harsh on a good player who has maybe been in a system for 10 years but has suffered an unfortunate injury at the 'wrong' time for their career to effectively end. I'm sure there are also fringe players whose ''face doesn''t fit' at many clubs who end up being released who would relish another chance.
Use to have the Unicorns in CB40, that was a mix of free agents & minor county players. Simon Jones captained them IIRC.
 
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