Following the announcement that Durham Cricket will play Royal London Cup games at South North and Scarborough, as well as Emirates Riverside, the venue for the remaining fixture against Hampshire has now been confirmed.
The game taking place on Tuesday 4 August will be played at Darlington Cricket Club.
This seasons Royal London Cup has been moved to take place throughout July and August and due to the scheduling of some Durham fixtures the club were forced to consider the use of out grounds for some home games.
Following an invitation to take part in the Scarborough Five Counties Cricket Week the home game against Gloucestershire on Tuesday 21 July will be played at their picturesque North Maine Road ground. The game against Lancashire on Friday 24 July has been selected as our traditional annual game at South North cricket club, taking a game to the North of the region.
On Tuesday 4 August Durham will play Hampshire at Darlington’s Feethams, taking a game to the South of the region for the first time since 2006. The group stage games will be concluded at Emirates Riverside on Sunday 9 August with Durham hosting Essex.
Durham Chief Executive, Tim Bostock, said: “Due to the change in the timings of this year’s competitions two of our fixtures are taking place straight after major concerts at the venue. After consultation with our grounds staff it was decided that in order to guarantee a first-class playing surface it would be best to take the opportunity to play these fixtures across the region and to take up the offer to play at the exciting Five Counties Cricket Week in Scarborough.
“We appreciate the games may cause some inconvenience to members and this is something we want to try to address in some part by ensuring all members who wish to attend the games are guaranteed tickets and are provided free transport from Emirates Riverside.
“It is a great opportunity to allow people from the North and South of the region to view first-class cricket and hopefully grow our fanbase. Moving the fixtures also allows us to host major concerts which will bring much needed revenue into the club, helping with investment in the team and the facilities at Emirates Riverside. The Scarborough game will also guarantee income to the club and allow us to showcase Durham to a wider cricketing audience attending the full week of games.
“It’s an exciting time at Durham and we want to engage as many people as possible with the club without alienating our members who have shown unwavering support throughout some difficult times.”
Further details of how members can book transport for the games will be released shortly.
Tickets for non-members will go on sale in the next few weeks.