Durham are on right track, believes skipper

DURHAM skipper Paul Collingwood is confident his team are heading in the right direction, even without their bowling spearhead Graham Onions.

Over the last two years Onions has been the top wicket- taker in the country, but concern is growing about his back problem and he is to have another scan on Monday before seeing a specialist the following day.

The injury appears to be related to the area where he had his operation prior to missing the 2010 season and Collingwood said: “He did fantastically well to come back from that so strongly.

“He worked so hard to get back and I’m sure he’ll do it again. We want him 100 per cent fit so we won’t be taking any risks with him.

“We’ve got John Hastings now and I’m sure he’s going to be a good bowler for us, who won’t go for more than two and a half an over. Mark Wood is showing great promise and I don’t know how Chris Rushworth didn’t take more wickets against Middlesex.

He had no luck at all.”

No play was possible on the final day yesterday and after six draws and one defeat Durham now wait to see if Ben Stokes is named in the England Test squad today.

Collingwood added: “I joked after his first game back from injury last week that I was bowling faster than him. But he’s now got his zip back and he’s not far off 100 per cent.

“If he is selected I would still expect him to be available for us in our Twenty20 matches at Edgbaston and Worcester on Friday and Saturday.

Coming back from injury, it would do him more good than harm to play.”

Stokes himself said: “The big thing for me was to get through a couple of games and bowl quite a lot of overs.

My body has coped with it all and I’d be disappointed if I wasn’t in the squad. If not it would be a chance to get a bit more cricket for Durham.

“I wasn’t worried about my wrist. It’s more about how the rest of the body reacts when you haven’t bowled for two and a half months. You can’t replicate bowling out in the middle.”

Collingwood feels there are other Durham players who could follow Stokes into the England team, saying: “The culture here is that everyone, including me, wants to keep improving.

“They teach themselves.

Playing in division one is the best education in the world for playing international cricket and you have to teach yourself how to overcome failure.

“Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick played very big innings at an aggressive tempo. They never got bored or looked like throwing their wickets away. They ran hard, keeping the pressure on the fielders, and that shows their fitness levels.

“Stoneman never gets a mention in England circles.

He plays in an attacking manner, so you are never going to get the overall consistency of a dead-pan opening batsman from him. But if England want to play attacking cricket he has the perfect approach.

“If we play to the standards we showed against Middlesex we will soon be winning games.”

SCOREBOARD

At Emirates Durham ICG

Overnight: Durham 568-9 dec (S G
Borthwick 216, M D Stoneman 187;
T SRoland-Jones 5-103). Middlesex
69-4.

Middlesex First Innings
J L Denly c Richardson b Hastings .59
J A Simpson b Stokes ........................44
P R Stirling c Jennings b Borthwick ....
55
T S Roland-Jones b Wood ................63
T J Murtagh st Mustard b Borthwick....
42
S T Finn b Wood ................................... 2
R H Patel not out................................... 0
Extras (b1 lb10 nb16 pens 0)27
Total (91.2 overs).............330
Fall: 1-7 2-38 3-39 4-45 5-159 6-175
7-264 8-320 9-324
Total Bonus Pts: Durham 8 Middlesex
4
Bowling: Rushworth 22-6-64-0.
Hastings 23-9-67-2. Wood 17-2-75-4.
Stokes 16-2-70-2. Borthwick 8.2-0-31-
2. Collingwood 5-2-12-0.

Middlesex Second Innings
C J Rogers lbw b Rushworth.............. 1
S D Robson not out............................42
D J Malan c Jennings b Wood..........33
R H Patel not out................................... 7
Extras (b1 lb4 nb2 pens 0) 7
Total 2 wkts (27 overs)..... 90
Fall: 1-5 2-76
Did Not Bat: N J Dexter, J L Denly, J
A Simpson, P R Stirling, T S Roland-
Jones, T J Murtagh, S T Finn
Total Bonus Pts: Durham 8 Middlesex
4
Bowling: Rushworth 5-0-11-1.
Hastings 3-0-6-0. Stokes 6-0-21-0.
Wood 6-1-17-1. Borthwick 7-0-30-0.

Durham (13pts) drew
with Middlesex (9pts)