Durham Diary

Answer: Graeme Bridge with six for 84 against Hampshire in August, 2001.

And who is the only spinner to take five in an innings there in recent seasons? Answer: Michael Gough with five for 66 against Middlesex in May, 2001.

So why, we are entitled to ask, are neither Bridge nor Gough bowling in the first team this season, while Nicky Phillips remains frustratingly inconsistent in his sixth season with the club.

Bridge's effort remains the only instance of a spinner taking six at Riverside, and five-wicket hauls have been extremely rare.

James Boiling and Nottinghamshire's Richard Bates both managed one in the final match of the ground's inaugural season in 1995, but after that it became a spinner's graveyard.

Gough was entrusted with his full allocation in the first three National League matches of this season, when Durham chose not to play Phillips. Then he bowled 16 overs in the match against Durham University, but he hasn't bowled a ball in the championship and sent down a mere three overs against India A.

Bridge has yet to make a first team appearance. He was with the team in Edinburgh last Monday because they had Aussie spin guru Ashley Mallett with them doing some coaching.

While he spoke very highly of Mallett, I got the distinct impression that Bridge is very frustrated with his lack of opportunity.

Phillips has shown signs of improvement this season, but compared with Brown's analysis his match figures of two for 146 against Northants suggested it's time for a change.

Either that or play two spinners, as Northants are doing with such success.

THE jury is still out on Shoaib Akhtar. Perhaps we should give him time as his Pakistani teammate Mohammad Sami had a couple of ordinary games for Kent before bagging the startling match return of 15 for 114 in the win against Nottinghamshire at Maidstone.

Apparently every other bowler looked impotent on a slow, unhelpful pitch.

Rarely has a stump been sent cartwheeling quite so spectacularly at Riverside as when a Shoaib yorker ripped out Mike Cawdron's middle pole on Friday morning, but Durham need him to make inroads into the top order.

He certainly can't be faulted on the public relations front. He was out playing Kwik cricket with the kids on Friday lunchtime and last Monday he visited a junior school in South Shields to help promote the 'Look after Yourself Have Fun' scheme.

Durham's media man, Andrew Jarvis, said: "We got him out of bed in Jesmond at 8am, which he wasn't happy about at all. He grumbled all the way there, but as soon as we arrived he switched into professional mode. He was fantastic with the kids."

Shoaib, meanwhile, is the subject of civil action by an anonymous Pakistani citizen following his comments about Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram in a newspaper article.

He suggested they should have retired from Test cricket a few years ago and observed that he might have done better had he been born Australian because, like Brett Lee, he could have benefited from bowling with McGrath and Gillespie.

He stands accused of being defamatory to the Pakistani nation, but is not taking it seriously. "It's some kind of cheeky fella trying to get famous," he said.

"I didn't say I wish I'd been born Australian, I'm proud to be a Pakistani."

AS we in the Press box decide the Goldsmith's Player of the Month, we voted that Liam Plunkett should have the award for June. His five for 53 on his debut against Yorkshire at Headingley was a startling performance and he also raised a few eyebrows with three for 38 on his National League debut at Old Trafford. He also fractured Iain Sutcliffe's cheekbone in that match.

It would, of course, be asking too much of an 18-year-old to keep up such performances and after his struggles against Northants he might not feature in this week's return match against Yorkshire, especially with Shoaib and Stephen Harmison both available. But he richly deserves his award.

THERE'S another S Akhtar playing in the North East, turning out for Philadelphia in the Premier League. He recently took so long to get to the crease that he was timed out by umpire Doug Hudson, that well-known former Gateshead Fell stalwart.

OPERA singer Graeme Danby was at Riverside yesterday, performing in the Gresford Celebration, a tribute to Durham's mining history. It was also a taster event for the Northern Proms to be staged at the ground on Saturday, August 16, for which tickets are available on 0191 387 5151 or online at www.durhamccc.co.uk.

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