Durham face Boon or bust (18 Mar 1998)

18 March 1998

Durham face Boon or bust

By Tim Wellock

DAVID Boon arrives back at Chester-le-Street on April 1 hoping that last year's groundwork with Durham will be ready to bear fruit.

The 37-year-old former Australian Test batsman left instructions with each squad member last September, outlining the winter's work they needed to undertake, and he will certainly be looking for improved fitness among the clutch of young pacemen who struggled to keep Alan Walker out of the team last year.

At 35, Walker has been appointed second-team captain and it is hoped he will not have to take a particularly active role as he provides encouragement for John Wood, Steve Lugsden, Colin Campbell, Martin Saggers and Neil Killeen, who mustered 14 first-class appearances between them last season.

After releasing only three players, and recruiting two, Durham have one of the biggest county staffs with 24, and never will the old cliche of 'make-or-break year' have been more applicable to many of them as a big clear-out can be expected at the end of the season.

Boon's first year was very much a voyage of discovery, but now that everyone is fully conversant with the direction in which he is rowing, the message will be: measure up, or you are out.

While Simon Brown and Melvyn Betts should again provide a potent spearhead, there is a need for one of the fringe pacemen to burst into bloom, and it will certainly be the final chance for Wood, one of only four survivors from the squad who launched Durham's first-class life in 1992.

The others are Brown and batsmen Jimmy Daley and Stewart Hutton, who will again be scrapping for two of the five batting places, assuming that the sixth again goes to wicketkeeper Martin Speight. Jon Lewis is certain to open after last season's outstanding success on his move from Essex, and with Boon and vice-captain John Morris taking up two middle-order places, Daley and Hutton are left to battle with Mike Roseberry, Nick Speak and Paul Collingwood.

Daley, always the fans' favourite home-grown batsman, had to be persuaded to stay at the end of last season amid threats of an outcry when another county made him an offer after he had played only in Durham's final match.

He had been a victim of Durham's loss of faith in their home-bred policy after finishing bottom of the County Championship in 1996 for the third time in five years. Some indication of the cost of the signings was provided by the accounts, which showed an increase in salaries from £751,053 to just over £1 million although overall personnel had increased by only three.

Whether Daley gets in from the outset this time, as his talent certainly suggests he should, is likely to depend on performances in the county's pre-season friendlies. After two one-day matches against Essex, Durham move on for a four-day contest at Hove against Sussex, the only team to finish below them last year.

There was a general feeling last year that Durham's position was not a true reflection of their overall improvement, and it was unfair to judge Boon on his first season in charge. Now comes the real test of his methods.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)