MIKE Hussey said he had unfinished business at Durham when he was unable to return for a second season. His year of captaincy saw them promoted in 2005, so might he be available for half a season to help keep them in division one?

It’s a long shot but surely worth investigating because in the packed international programme Australia are one of the few countries not in action in late July and August.

They finish their one-day series in this country on July 10, which unfortunately is the first day of Durham’s next championship match at Worcester.

After that the Aussies have no commitments until their opening match in the World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka on September 19. As he has just turned 37 Hussey might not be required for that, although he is still a sprightly T20 player and scored a half-century in the recent IPL final.

Other than for T20 cricket, Durham have not had an official overseas player since Shivnarine Chanderpaul played in the last few games of 2009.

He will not be available this year because a week after finishing their tour here the West Indies begin a home series against New Zealand, taking them into August.

Sri Lanka are playing Pakistan until July 12 followed by India from July 22-August 7, then two weeks after that India host New Zealand until September 11.

When South Africa tour England in the second half of this summer they will be sending a shadow squad to Ireland for two four-day games and some one-dayers. Prior to that the A squad are playing Sri Lanka A then taking part in a triangular one-day series in Zimbabwe.

AMONG the candidates Durham have looked at to replace Mitchell Johnson in their Twenty20 squad is Australian all-rounder John Hastings.

But he hasn’t played since having a shoulder operation late last year and his 11 one-day internationals are also believed to leave him just short of meeting the ECB’s requirements for registering a new overseas man.

Johnson was ruled out by his inclusion in the Australia squad to play five one-day internationals against England from June 29-July 10. He will also be on these shores with the Australia A party, who start their tour in late July and play Durham on August 1-3.

This is just one more tour in a packed programme which makes it very difficult to find available overseas men of the required quality.

BEN Stokes’ dismissal in the first innings against Warwickshire owed something to a Birmingham journalist, who was being visited in the media centre by Ashley Giles.

The Director of Cricket wanted to get a message to Chris Wright to bowl round the wicket to Stokes but he couldn’t get the window open. The scribe managed to do it for him, Wright got the message and a few balls late Stokes played on.

A radio man later got a little confused in relaying the story to Stokes, asking him if he had any views on Barker going round the wicket. Stokes merely replied: “It wasn’t Barker that got me out.”

PAUL Collingwood is unlikely to get another opportunity to play in South Africa's domestic Twenty20 tournament, which will revert to a six-franchise event next season.

The new team he captained this year, Impi, will not be retained after failing to win a game. Cricket South Africa identified the manner in which the franchise was assembled as the main reason for its failure. Impi's squad selection depended on the six existing franchises making players available to them. They also had problems firming up their overseas contingent.