BBC Newcastle sports and news presenter Martin Emmerson has been commentating on Durham since 2000. In a series of long reads, Martin looks back at some of his favourite days and moments covering Durham, starting with trips to Canterbury in 2007 and 2008.
A man has waited all his life to see his team with the FA Cup at Wembley. One year they make it to the final and take the lead. Just as the match is reaching a conclusion there’s a furious knock at the door. (This is in the days before you could pause TV. Let’s say 2007!)
He eventually answers, against his better judgement, and there on the step is a snail. “Hello” says the snail, “can I tell you my life story?” The man stands there in disbelief as the snail reveals all.
Suddenly there is a loud noise from the TV. Not only has he missed seeing his team win. He’s missed them lifting the cup as well. At that point he picks the snail up and throws him down the garden. “You’ve ruined everything, you annoying snail!”
Amazingly a year down the line his team are back at Wembley when, lo and behold there’s a knock at the door. After much consideration the man decides to open the door and there on the step is the snail. “What did you do that for?” the snail asks.
I often think of this silly joke when I think back to Durham winning their first championship. In 2007 they finished the season at Canterbury with a win, but narrowly missed out on their first title after Sussex beat Worcestershire in their final match.
Incredibly, just like the story of the snail, they were back at Canterbury and in the same position the following year. You couldn’t make it up.
I set off for Kent in 2007 on a lovely September afternoon. The sun was shining and I had a smile as wide as the North Sea. Me and my wife Julia had just been to a clinic for a 4D scan. Our first baby was due in December. Without finding out the sex of our child, we could actually see what the baby looked like, such was the technology at hand. And I took with me a DVD of the scan so I could watch it again at my hotel that week.
Heading south I got a call to say I would be staying in the village of Upper Harbledown. Although it wasn’t Canterbury where the players were, it sounded lovely. I pictured a beautiful country pub. Oast houses. Orchards. Rural Kent at its best.
As I reached the final few miles of my journey I was listening to Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6 Music. He played a song by a band called The Unthanks which just blew me away. I would later discover the band were from the North East. Surely nothing could spoil this moment?
Upper Harbledown is on the A2. One of the busiest motorways in the country. Lorries rumble past on their way to Dover on a relentless basis, day and night. The hotel was in a service station car park! It would be my base for the next four nights, along with a team physio, the team coach driver and a TV cameraman. After one night of disturbed sleep he sensibly decided to go elsewhere.
Back in 2007 I covered games on BBC Radio Newcastle for news reports only. We only provided commentary on merit. Local radio commentary was still a rare thing in those days. But 2007 brought us a semi-final win in The Royal London Cup and a memorable trip to Lord’s for the final.
Towards the end of the season Durham were in with a slim chance of winning the title as well.
The week before the final game I commentated as they hammered leaders Sussex by nine wickets in Chester-le-Street. Mark Stoneman made a century. So, it was decided I should make the 350-mile trip to Canterbury the following week, purely on the off-chance they may pull off a surprise against all of the odds.
Kent were bowled out for 212 as Ottis Gibson, Graham Onions and Mark Davies took three wickets each. Although former Durham player Martin Saggers took four for Kent during Durham’s first innings, 117 from Dale Benkenstein and 40 from Ottis Gibson gave them a first innings lead of 109.
Victory was eventually wrapped up on the Friday afternoon as Durham chased down their small target of 52 with the loss of two wickets. But Sussex did enough to retain the title after they beat Worcestershire at Hove and Durham had to settle for second place.
The gap was just four and a half points and it had been an incredible effort from a Durham point of view. But as I drove home that night there was also a tinge of sadness. What if they didn’t get this close again?
Incredibly a year after the close call in Canterbury Durham were back there again. They needed a maximum points win against a relegation-threatened Kent and needed Notts to lose at home to Hampshire. Everything had to go Durham’s way. And again I was there. But this time I wasn’t alone, and I wasn’t in a motorway service station.
By now our daughter Abigail was nine-months-old so she and Julia accompanied me for an end of season trip. And we were in the team hotel. The first morning of the match Abigail woke up and started making quite a noise. At about five o’clock!
We were worried about the impact our baby could have on the side’s title challenge. There were at least two players in the rooms below us. So, my wife put her in the car for a short drive to get her back to sleep. She re-appeared later having somehow ended up on the motorway towards Dover!.
As I said. Everything needed to go Durham’s way. But the first morning was affected by rain. That meant a delayed start. And bad light brought a premature end to the day. But Durham got maximum bowling points and dismissed Kent for 225 early on day two. Steve Harmison took four wickets and brother Ben got two.
In a rare championship appearance Gareth Breese then made 122* in Durham’s first innings total of 500-8 declared. They were in a fantastic position. Kent began their second innings on the third day still 275 behind.
Callum Thorp then ripped through them. Opener Rob Key got a first baller and Thorp took 5-33 in 11 overs. It could have been over that Friday night but Steve Harmison got a crack on the wrist trying to stop a Geraint Jones shot, before Ryan McLaren and Justin Kemp added 101 for the sixth wicket with him at hospital.
In the hotel bar that night Harmi sported a chalk on his arm. But it wasn’t his bowling arm. He was nervous and thought there was still plenty of fight left in the hosts. But I thought a night of rest would put the bowlers on the front foot and it could be over quickly the next day. And it was.
While Callum Thorp finished with career-best figures of 7-88, it was Harmi who wrapped things up with three quick wickets on the final morning. The last being Martin Saggers, the former Durham man. That sparked wild scenes of celebration on the pitch as everybody piled on top of the bowler. I still don’t know how he managed to protect that fractured arm, but he did.
I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as I reported the news back to listeners on BBC Radio Newcastle. I thought of what my granddad would have made of it all. A man steeped in the history and traditions of the Durham Senior League. It meant so much to so many people.
One man drove down from Chester-le-Street that morning just to be a part of history. He and his five-year-old grandson walked into the ground as the final wicket fell. Fans joined in the celebrations and mingled with the players to celebrate for a long time after the game ended. In contrast the Kent players sat on their team balcony contemplating life in Division Two.
Durham did their bit but had to wait a few hours before Notts eventually succumbed to Hampshire at Trent Bridge. They became champions as the team bus was travelling through the Dartford Tunnel.
I celebrated with a boat trip on The Thames on a beautiful afternoon with my wife and Abigail.
And to this day one of my favourite photos is of Abigail wearing my headphones at Canterbury. Nowadays she scores when I commentate on T20 matches in Chester-le-Street. But I will always look back on that week in Canterbury as one of the highlights of my life.