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County Championship Preview: Durham v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to Banks Homes Riverside to face Durham in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship this week.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Friday May 23rd).
Tickets for this match are still available:
Somerset are currently seventh in the Division One table with 73 points from six matches whilst Durham sit in fourth position with 80 points from the same number of fixtures.
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 1:40pm to 3:40pm
Evening session: 4pm to 6pm
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website which will feature a live stream of the action courtesy of Durham CCC.
In-play updates will also appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Alex Lees
Head Coach: Ryan Campbell
2024Â finish: Fifth (Division One)
2024 highest run-scorer: David Bedingham (1,331)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Matthew Potts (33)
After winning Division Two in 2023, Durham consolidated their top-flight position last season by finishing mid-table courtesy of four wins and five draws. It will be fascinating to chart the progress of three highly-rated homegrown youngsters as they tackle a summer in which Alex Lees will captain Durham’s Championship team alongside their white-ball sides. Opening batter Ben McKinney scored an England Lions century against Australia A this winter and is targeting a breakthrough campaign, while fast bowlers Daniel Hogg and James Minto can further progress after brief – and exciting – exposure in last summer’s Rothesay County Championship.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset are without Tom Kohler-Cadmore (PSL) and Sean Dickson (hand), whilst Jake Ball and Alfie Ogborne are currently on loan at Kent. Thomas Rew has been included in the squad after signing a short term contract.
The following squad has been announced for this match:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
On the eve of the fixture, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “I thought it was a really impressive three days against Sussex. It was an incredible team performance and following the previous win over Essex confidence is building within the group.
“It’s no secret that we’ve not played as well away from home and we can’t hide from that. This is an opportunity for us to look at how we’re playing cricket away from home and try to do things a bit better for longer like we’ve demonstrated at home.
“Durham are coming into the game on the back of a good win against Notts, so that shows how strong they are. They’ve recruited well and we know that we’ll have to play our best cricket over long periods if we want to come away with something.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We go back to 1995 for the classic First Class encounter between the two sides at Chester-le-Street.
It was a match that Somerset won by 286 runs thanks to a stellar performance from Andy Caddick.
Somerset Captain, Andy Hayhurst won the toss and elected to bat. However, his side slipped to 114 for five.
The visitors rallied thanks to Rob Turner (65) and Caddick who smashed his way to a First Class career best of 61. Andrew van Troost also made an entertaining 28 as Somerset’s final wicket partnership added a crucial 62 runs to ensure that a total of 333 was posted.
Having impressed with the bat, Caddick then excelled with the ball.
The Somerset seamer blew Durham away, claiming eight for 69 as the home side were dismissed for 221 inside 49 overs.
Hayhurst and Richard Harden both scored hundreds in the Somerset second innings as the visitors declared on 390 for five.
Caddick claimed another two wickets in the Durham second innings to finish with match figures of 10 for 131.
The Durham batters couldn’t cope with Caddick in the first innings, and in their second innings Mushtaq Ahmed had them in a spin. The Pakistan international took five for 60 as Durham we bowled out for 216.
WPA PREDICTIONS LEAGUE
So, you think you know your cricket do you? Here’s your chance to prove it!
Powered by WPA Health Insurance, the new game allows you to score points on every Somerset matchday.
Collect points throughout the year for correct predictions and make your way up the leaderboard to prove that you are the font of all cricketing knowledge!
The top Scorers for each competition will receive a prize.
Watch. Predict. Win!
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Durham CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset are next in action when we take on Surrey at the Cooper Associates County Ground in the Vitality Blast on Friday May 30th.
This matchday is a double header which will also see Somerset Women take on their Surrey counterparts.
Tickets for this match have sold out!
