Head coach James Franklin has called on his Durham side to put the disappointment of their two defeats to start the Specsavers County Championship season behind them ahead of their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign.

They meet Northamptonshire in their opener at Emirates Riverside today.

Franklin’s reign at Emirates Riverside has begun on a low note with back-to-back losses in the County Championship Division Two. Durham suffered a 125-run defeat to Derbyshire on the road before losing their home opener by six wickets to Sussex last week.

The club have to turn the page quickly for the one-day campaign, which sees them play all eight North Group matches over the next three weeks.

Franklin is hopeful that his team can bounce back from their underwhelming start and learn valuable lessons that they can take back into the championship when the competition resumes in May.

“It’s a nice shift of focus now,” Franklin said. “There’s a whole campaign to look forward to over the next three or four weeks, which we can really zone in on.

“Different skills are required and there’s an element of freedom with it as well. The big thing is that we don’t have a hangover from these two games. We’ve got to draw a very clear line in the sand and we’ve got to turn our focus to one-day cricket.

“We’ve got to crawl before we walk, and walk before we run. The position that we’re in is that the last two seasons of County Championship cricket have been pretty average. It’s about progress and the first two results are disappointing and the guys are feeling that disappointment.

“Even though we were on the losing side in the last game there were moments where we could have asserted dominance. It could be symptomatic of the last couple of years that we don’t know how to assert that dominance.

“Then when it gets put back on us we roll over a little bit. These guys want to rectify that. They want to get out there and show that they’re good cricketers. It’s just going to take some time.”

Cameron Bancroft made his bow as Durham captain in the defeat to Sussex. The Australian scored a combined 55 runs on his debut, but was not able to play the meaningful innings to make an immediate impact for his team.

However, Franklin was encouraged by the performance of the 26-year-old and is confident that with further time in the middle and with his team-mates, Durham will soon see Bancroft at his best.

“It’s obviously challenging for Cameron coming in very late in the piece, having not been here before,” Franklin said.

“A lot of the last game was about him getting to know the guys and how they work in the middle. Like me it’s seeing how guys react when they perform well or when there have been tough situations because there have been a few of those. He’ll start to make up his own mind on players and characters in the dressing room.

“We saw a little bit of what Cameron Bancroft is as a batsman. He definitely showed some resilience out there and the attitude to want to bat for time, which is an important character trait for batsmen here at the Riverside.

“It’s not easy scoring runs here. His leadership – he put forward some strong views in the dressing room, but it’s going to take time for him to know how people work in the middle and what the right combinations are. He’ll have more say as we go forward over the next few weeks.”