Oh Me Lads: The Inside Story Of Durham's Return To Division One
TCCP Founder Aaron Viles takes a closer look at Durham's sensational County Championship campaign and explores the deep-rooted connection between the club and those who so proudly call it home.
It’s been a long 7 years for Durham County Cricket Club.
Prior to that infamous relegation in 2016, the North-Eastern County had emerged as a true tour de force in red ball cricket, lifting the County Championship in 2008, 2009 and 2013 during a golden era of dominance which had propelled them from gutsy newcomers to bona fide contenders in an increasingly competitive domestic circuit.
After the devastating fallout of the ECB bailout however, which saw Durham hit with hefty points deductions across competitions, an immediate relegation to Division Two and The Riverside being stripped of its Test match hosting rights, the club began to hit a downwards spiral which, for a number of years, appeared to show no end.
In fact, when I spoke to an impassioned Chris Rushworth about it on the podcast in 2021, he believed that the aftereffects of the harsh ECB sanctions were still being felt by the club over five years later, a sentiment which resonated with ardent supporters who continued to air their immense anger and frustration with the game’s governing body via various social media platforms and online forums. Even at the time of penning this piece, the relationship between a large number of Durham fans and the top brass of the England and Wales Cricket Board remains frosty at best, but that’s an article for another day.
Following yet another hugely underwhelming season, which saw the team slump to 6th place in Division Two of the 2022 LV= County Championship and the aforementioned Rushworth depart for pastures anew in Warwickshire, any sense of belief and optimism seemed to have been lost for the North-Eastern outfit. If anything, they appeared to be stuck in a vicious cycle of initial promise followed by subsequent heartbreak from which there was simply no escape.
Or so it seemed, until this season.
The Durham side of 2023 have completely flipped the script on its head, amassing more batting bonus points than any other side across either division of the LV= County Championship and securing their triumphant return to the top flight with 2 games to spare. It’s been a commanding campaign in every single sense of the word and fittingly, given the intrinsic link that the club possesses to the region that they so proudly represent, the main characters just so happen to have been produced in the North East.
Take Matt Potts and Ben Raine for example, the leading wicket takers in Division Two, both of them were born in Sunderland and started off their cricketing journeys at Philadelphia and Murton respectively before joining the Durham academy in their teenage years. Similarly, Paul Coughlin, an unsung hero of this County Championship campaign, started off life as a junior at Eppleton CC, whilst 22-year-old batting all-rounder Jonathan Bushnell cut his teeth at Durham City before joining the county side at the age of nine. Ask any of them what that badge on their chest represents and they’ll reply with a short but succinct answer; everything.
Then, of course, there’s the captain, Scott Borthwick.
A fellow son of Sunderland, the 33-year-old all-rounder joined the club at Under-9’s level, rising through the ranks of the academy before going on to represent England in 1 Test and 2 ODI’s between 2011 and 2014. Following the turbulent events of 2016, he made the long journey down south to Surrey, where he would spend the next 4 years of his career before making an emotional return to The Riverside ahead of the 2021 season, a return which would also see him named as the captain of his boyhood club. It’s evident to see how much that honour still means to him to this very day; from the initial giddiness that he showed in interviews at the time, to the infectious passion and pride that he’s displayed in post-match pieces this season, Borthwick encapsulates everything that makes Durham such a well-respected side and in all honesty, there aren’t many worthier protagonists to head this long-awaited homecoming than the former Philadelphia and Tynemouth man.
It's not just the local lads who are behind this success either; Alex Lees for example has been nothing short of a revelation since joining the club from Yorkshire in 2019 and continues to reinforce his credentials as one of the most reliable openers in the entire country. Ollie Robinson, a promising wicketkeeper formerly of Kent, has thrown himself headfirst into life in the North East and emerged as one of the most consistent performers across formats, whilst the engine room of Michael Jones, David Bedingham, Graham Clark, Bas de Leede and Brydon Carse have transformed their side into one of the most dashing, electrifying and entertaining red ball batting units on the entire circuit. For the first time in years, Durham finally seem to have found a distinct identity on the field which complements that which they possess off of it.
A great deal of credit for this incredible transformation also has to go to Ryan Campbell. The former Netherlands Head Coach came to an ailing club which had completely lost its once infectious spark and injected a compelling sense of conviction, hope and optimism into a group of players who clearly had the talent but lacked the confidence to achieve their full potential.
Right from the get-go, he appears to have been fully invested in this project at The Riverside, focusing on emerging local talent such as England Under-19’s captain Ben McKinney and bringing in international quality spin bowlers such as Ajaz Patel, Matt Parkinson and Matt Kuhnemann to assist a formidable seam battery. Back in April, the 51-year-old also stated that he saw Durham as a ‘massive part of England’ and wanted the club to become ‘the best team in the country’ as per an incredibly insightful interview with ESPN Cricinfo. Whether or not Campbell’s intrepid visions of grandeur will become a reality remains to be seen of course, but regardless of what happens next season, the lasting legacy of this memorable County Championship campaign will endure for many years to come in the North East.
For you see, Durham is a club unlike any other.
Whereas the founding members of the circuit achieved their First-Class status back in the 1800’s, Durham County Cricket Club existed in the Minor Counties until 1991, only playing their current counterparts in List A matches until the club was finally awarded with a place in the County Championship of 1992.
The Riverside which we see today hadn’t even been built back then, with the team adopting a nomadic lifestyle and relying on local clubs such as Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, South Northumberland and Sunderland to help them live out the dream until the creation of their main home ground in 1995.
Even with a permanent base, performances on the field didn’t make for great reading, with the winless 1996 County Championship campaign standing out for all of the wrong reasons, but one aspect of the club which never failed to disappoint was its support. Despite all of the disappointment in the early years, Durham boasted the largest membership base of any non-Test hosting county for a number of seasons and saw vast numbers of fans turn up to matches whether the team was competing for the title or languishing in the depths at the lower end of the Division Two table.
And it’s these fans, the loyal following that stuck by their team through thick and thin, when their side needed them the most, who deserve this moment more than anyone else.
If you’ve ever made the journey up to Chester-le-Street, you’ll know just how much this club means to the locals and there’s an excellent reason for that. Cricket isn’t simply a recreational sport in the North East; it’s a vessel of expression for an extremely proud, but often times overlooked people born out of the fiery coals of an industrial homeland which continues to face a disproportionate share of adversity and hardship to this very day.
Just listen to the song ‘Shipyards’ for example, a touching tribute to the working-class grandfather of Lake Poets lead singer Marty Longstaff, and you’ll begin to understand why the history of this region has ingrained itself so prominently throughout the hearts and minds of those who still live there.
In that sense, perhaps Durham County Cricket Club are a rather fitting embodiment of the people that they represent, having struggled through their own periods of turmoil and adversity over the years but always emerging on the other side with an unwavering sense of resolve, steel and determination that’s become part and parcel of the character of the wider region that they inhabit.
Simply put, it’s the Durham way.
It might be a long trek to get up there, it might even be positively Baltic once you walk through those gates, but experiencing a day at The Riverside tells you everything that you need to know about this great region and the people who call it home; it’s incredibly special and the intrinsic link that exists between the club and its community is something to be truly admired.
Next season will undoubtedly present a number of challenges for this team and those who support them, after all the sword of Damocles hangs ever menacingly over the heads of those who dare enter the lion’s den of the First Division, but for now, the overriding emotion in the North East should be that of celebration and the turning over of a new leaf, because in the Summer of 2024, the Durham lads are finally gannin’ back to Division One, and boy do they deserve it.
Piece written by Aaron Viles