Durham will face the LV=County Championships leaders Yorkshire at Scarborough this Wednesday- Saturday with the match shaping up as a potential ‘Championship decider’.
After a comprehensive victory over Surrey over the week-end, Durham shot back up to cement 2nd place on the Championship table sitting only behind their next opponents Yorkshire.
The match is a mouth-watering affair with Yorkshire holding a 25.5 point lead over Durham however Durham have played 11 games and Yorkshire 12 with 5 weeks of the competition to go.
The last time the two sides met was in late April in a classic four day match where Yorkshire managed to chase down 339 in their second innings at Emirates Durham ICG. They were led by Joe Root in their second innings who made 182 however Root has been named in the England T20 squad who have fixtures against Australia this Thursday and Sunday.
Durham come off a superb team effort against Surrey which showcased the squad’s youth and depth after they were without experienced duo Graham Onions and Ben Stokes.
23-year old number three Scott Borthwick made a career best 135 and combined with Will Smith (87) for a record breaking 4th wicket partnership of 183.
Borthwick wasn’t the only one with career best statistics however with pace duo Jamie Harrison (22 years old) taking 5-31 and Mark Wood (23 years old) 5-44 whilst 20-year old debutant Usman Arshad also showed promise with 4 wickets.
All of these players will remain in the Durham squad for the Yorkshire match with Ben Stokes back in the team after England Lions duties and spinner Ryan Buckley also included in the 13-man squad for Scarborough.
Graham Onions is still recovering from his finger injury and has not been included in the squad for this week.
Durham vs Yorkshire, Wednesday August 28th– Saturday August 31st, Scarborough
Paul Collingwood (c)
Mark Stoneman
Keaton Jennings
Scott Borthwick
Will Smith
Michael Richardson
Phil Mustard +
Usman Arshad
Ben Stokes
Chris Rushworth
Jamie Harrison
Mark Wood
Ryan Buckley