By Niall Hickman
Day one of the LV= County Championship First Division: Durham v Worcestershire at the Emirates Durham ICG: Worcs are 223-4(Fell 83).
Points: Durham 1 Worcs 1.
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A gruelling first day of the LV= County Championship clash against Worcestershire at the Emirates Durham ICG ended with the visitors on top at 223-4, following a classy innings of 83 by Tom Fell.
Seamer Barry McCarthy only took one wicket but the young Irishman underlined his rich potential by causing problems to all the visiting batsmen just a week after his first class debut at Trent Bridge.
McCarthy said: “We would like to have taken a few more wickets but if we can get a couple out early in the morning and get down to their tail then we will have done reasonably well.
“I was delighted with the wicket I took but I just wish it had been a few more. With a bit of luck tomorrow we can quickly get down to their lower batsmen and then try to get them out for as a little as possible.”
Skipper Paul Collingwood won the toss and elected to field under cloudy skies in the North-east, with Durham determined to end the season on a high.
Worcestershire made steady, if unspectacular progress, in their quest to avoid relegation from the LV= County Championship First Division, reaching 67-1 at the lunch break following a delayed start.
Play began at 11am due to heavy moisture on the outfield with the visitors struggling in the early stages as Durham missed two chances to make an early breakthrough.
Skipper Daryl Mitchell was let off the hook with just two runs on the board as Scott Borthwick dropped a waist-high catch at second slip off Graham Onions’ first over.
Then his opening partner Brett D’Oliveira also received a reprieve as Gordon Muchall narrowly failed to run him out at the non-strikers’ end. Worcestershire limped to 12-0 off the first ten overs from Onions and Chris Rushworth, but with two bowling changes the runs started to come more regularly off Barry McCarthy and Jamie Harrison.
D’Oliveira hooked to the fine leg boundary to bring up the 50 partnership but shortly afterwards McCarthy got a terrific delivery to nip back through his defence. Umpire Richard Kettleborough took little time in raising the dreaded finger, giving the opener out LBW for 36.
Tom Fell came in and soon settled down with his captain, taking the score on to 67-1 at lunch off 33 overs. The final ball before the break was a corker from Onions and the Durham side went up in unison for a caught behind, only for umpire Nigel Llong to dismiss their appeals.
Immediately after the break Ryan Pringle got one to turn and Mitchell was adjudged LBW for 17, making it 67-2.
Joe Clarke and Fell took the score past the three-figure mark before the former was brilliantly caught by Muchall at full stretch at third slip, with Onions picking up a richly deserved first wicket.
At 109-3 the visitors were in a spot of bother, but Fell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore gritted their teeth and built a very strong fourth wicket partnership. Fell in particular looked in terrific nick as he punctuated the offside with a selection of rich strokes. His partner also chipped in with a number of eye-catching shots as well and the pair took the score on to 194 before a bizarre run out ended their partnership.
Kohler-Cadmore turned the ball down to deep fine leg and paid the price of the old cricketing adage, never run on a mis-field. Onions picked up the ball and flung it in towards his keeper with both Worcestershire batsmen at the same end. Michael Richardson took the bails off, realised Fell was way out of his crease and threw the ball down to the bowler’s end where Paul Collingwood whipped off the bails with the Worcestershire batsmen still a yard out of his crease, out for a classy 83.
Kohler-Cadmore and No6 Ross Whiteley looked unfussed as they took the total past 200, finding the singles off Durham’s twin spin attack of Pringle and Borthwick.
At 5.25pm the umpires took the players off the pitch for bad light with the visitors 223-4.