Durham award Lewis captaincy

Jon Lewis fields media questions Photo © Paul McGregor [Enlarge]

The Annual Player of the Year Dinner held by Durham CCC at the beautiful Riverside Ground was the occasion for the announcement of Jon Lewis as the new Captain of the club. Lewis, previously vice captain and then thrust into the captaincy role following the fall from favour of Nick Speak with only 2 weeks to go in the season, said that he was proud and honoured to be asked to captain this ambitious club . He recognised that relegation into Division Two of the PPP healthcare County Championship was a major setback but that it was up to him to take a lead in ensuring the club were promoted in 2001.

Paul Collingwood receives the Player of the Year award Photo © Paul McGregor [Enlarge]

The announcement of Lewis as skipper somewhat overshadowed the individual Player of the Year awards. Most observers had expected overseas star Simon Katich to be Player of the Year but the award given from a vote of the club members went instead to Paul Collingwood. Collingwood also scooped the Fielder of the Year Award whilst Katich had to be content with Batsman of the Year. Once again the Bowler of the Year was the redoubtable Simon Brown.

Back: Paul Collingwood and Simon Brown, Front: Simon Katich and Ian Hunter Photo © Paul McGregor [Enlarge]

Club President Bill Midgely, in his first year in office, struck an upbeat note in his address despite the disappointments on the pitch. The staging of the one day internationals was widely recognised as a major success; the continued selection of a number of Durham young players for overseas tours was acclaimed and the proposal to go out to tender for the building of a hotel facility on the ground raised much interest. Perhaps most surprisingly of all the President was able to announce that the club should record an operating surplus for the year and this was contrasted favourably with the position at Yorkshire and a number of other counties.