brandon
Striker
The business end of the domestic season is nearly upon us, Durham have 3 games left in our quest for promotion - but I’m sure from where we are, we’d want to win the league - and 206 points is the magic figure as things stand. Get to that number and we are guaranteed promotion. A further 32 points from where we currently sit.
It really feels like this summer has flown by and whilst officially the lads have 5 games of cricket left in 2023, unfortunately the first two of these have been rendered somewhat of an irrelevance due to the sabotage of our squad at the hands of the abhorrent 16.4. The three games in the last month of the season that matter are:
Sunday 3 September
v Sussex (h)
Tuesday 19 September
v Worcestershire (a)
Tuesday 26 September
v Leicestershire (h)
All of the days in September begin at 10:30. With the potential end of the season coming two days short of October, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see all of those games affected by the weather/bad light meaning we really ought to be all but guaranteed promotion thanks to our early season work - ever the pessimist, I’m counting no chickens yet - I’m looking forward to it though, hopefully I can get to atleast 6 of the last 8 home days, weather and game duration permitting to try and make the most of the dying embers of the season, as usual it’ll be a long dark winter.
Given what we’ve seen up to now, there isn’t really anything to fear from any of the opposition. Pujara is still with Sussex for our game against them as I understand it and he’ll probably be the best player we will face in the last few games - but ultimately, Durham’s biggest ‘threat’ comes from within. Aside from a raft of injuries to our bowling corps we should have both the depth and the health in our squad to be able to negotiate what’s left to come. One positive from the 16.4 decimation atleast has been that key bowlers like Potts, Raine and de Leede haven’t played at all. Carse shouldn’t have been too overworked either with his <4 overs per game. To that point, the biggest risk of underperformance will come from the rustiness of several lads not having played regular enough cricket to keep the body match sharp. Added to this, selfishly of course, it was good to see Potts and Carse overlooked for the England white ball squads to face NZ.
Ha’way Durham.
It really feels like this summer has flown by and whilst officially the lads have 5 games of cricket left in 2023, unfortunately the first two of these have been rendered somewhat of an irrelevance due to the sabotage of our squad at the hands of the abhorrent 16.4. The three games in the last month of the season that matter are:
Sunday 3 September
v Sussex (h)
Tuesday 19 September
v Worcestershire (a)
Tuesday 26 September
v Leicestershire (h)
All of the days in September begin at 10:30. With the potential end of the season coming two days short of October, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see all of those games affected by the weather/bad light meaning we really ought to be all but guaranteed promotion thanks to our early season work - ever the pessimist, I’m counting no chickens yet - I’m looking forward to it though, hopefully I can get to atleast 6 of the last 8 home days, weather and game duration permitting to try and make the most of the dying embers of the season, as usual it’ll be a long dark winter.
Given what we’ve seen up to now, there isn’t really anything to fear from any of the opposition. Pujara is still with Sussex for our game against them as I understand it and he’ll probably be the best player we will face in the last few games - but ultimately, Durham’s biggest ‘threat’ comes from within. Aside from a raft of injuries to our bowling corps we should have both the depth and the health in our squad to be able to negotiate what’s left to come. One positive from the 16.4 decimation atleast has been that key bowlers like Potts, Raine and de Leede haven’t played at all. Carse shouldn’t have been too overworked either with his <4 overs per game. To that point, the biggest risk of underperformance will come from the rustiness of several lads not having played regular enough cricket to keep the body match sharp. Added to this, selfishly of course, it was good to see Potts and Carse overlooked for the England white ball squads to face NZ.
Ha’way Durham.
