THE groundsmen were out working on the Emirates Riverside square, the sun was shining, the players had just completed their first session under their new head coach.

The season is shaping up nicely – and early - for everyone at Durham.

James Franklin met his new players yesterday morning, before being unveiled to the media in the afternoon.

The former New Zealand all-rounder is part of a new hierarchy at the club. There’s a fresh feel to the whole set-up; out with the old and in with the new.

Geoff Cook, Paul Collingwood, David Harker and Jon Lewis have all stood down.

At the top table yesterday sat Tim Bostock, Marcus North and Franklin. Chief executive, director of cricket and head coach. All are relatively new to the club, and the roles, all are excited about the future.

“When Northy called and said he was interested in having a chat it was a no-brainer to come and chat and Tim described where he wants the club to be in the next few years,’’ reflected Franklin.

“I did my own research into the squad and what is around and it became a no-brainer to come and be involved – there’s a lot of excitement about a new era of Durham Cricket.

“There’s been a lot of changes at the club in the last few years and senior players moving to other counties and retiring. We are left with some very good senior players and some young, exciting cricketers with huge potential who we can hopefully get the best out of and galvanise everyone as a group.

“We want to have each other’s backs and compete as a team.

“Me and Northy have crossed paths before and have a lot of mutual friends within cricket, but I’ve not worked or played with him before.

“We think about the game the same way and we know where we want to take the team in the next few years. The proof is in the eating of the pudding but we are all pretty excited about what can be achieved here.

“It’s flattering to get a call to chat about a potential job and then listening to it and then being offered it, it was a pretty easy decision.’’

After Lewis helped stabilise the team and squad after the club was hit hard, decimated by draconian ECB sanctions, there is a feeling around the place that it’s time to move on.

Promotion would be nice, real progress in the knock-out competitions welcomed, but there’s no huge pressure on Franklin to lead Durham immediately back into the first division.

Progress and development is the key. Instant success would be a bonus.

Franklin has a two-year deal, but only for nine months a year. He is encouraged by the club chiefs to coach elsewhere around the globe in those three winter months, then bring his experience and added knowledge back to the North-East.

After a spell in the Big Bash with Brisbane Heat where he worked under fellow Kiwi Daniel Vettori, he is already in a place to bring a new outlook.

He added: “I’ve said before that culturally Australians, New Zealanders and Englishmen all like to do it their own way and even in England there’s different cultures. I need to understand what cricket means for the people here and find a style of play to suit the people in the region in the different formats. It’s exciting.

“I’ve played against Durham before and there’s a strong tradition of seam bowling here and fast bowling all-rounders and conditions here are generally conducive to that.

“We have to create a real fortress here, there’s a very proud history here of competing and winning trophies. Can we win a trophy this year? I can’t say that now for definite, but if we can progress and challenge then it’s a good sign for this group.’’

The Black Caps made some real progress on the world stage at both Test and one-day level thanks to implementing a tight team ethic.

The Durham dressing room is a united group and team spirit in the Riverside pavilion has been key to their success and re-emergence.

It’s something Franklin is well aware of.

“For me it’s all about the team and encouraging guys. People have their individual aspirations, but how do you fit into the team structure?" he said.

“That’s my mantra and has been for a long time. As a Kiwi that’s how we have been able to compete on the world stage in most sports. I can draw on cricket and my era and we didn’t have a lot of world class players but we could compete.

“If we looked after the little things and contributed to what the team needed at any given time. That’s my philosophy as well as having fun with it, back your team, back your teammates and get the job done.’’

Franklin is bedding in with his new charges and has a pre-season tour of South Africa to get to know them inside out.

He is in the process of identifying a new captain to lead the side and said: “I’ve had my first session with the squad. I came up a week or so ago to have a few meetings and get an understanding of things and put some structures in place.

“Now it’s full-on pre-season and we have a few weeks to get ready for the first Championship game and then the one-dayers so we have to juggle things around to make sure we are ready for both.

“I think things will all happen and fall in place with the squad and getting to know them. First and foremost I need to know the guys on a one to one basis and then we will speak as a group a lot.

“We have a really good pre-season to South Africa which will be good for us as a group before the first game. It’s an exciting few weeks coming up.’’