The curious case of Surrey and Durham
Stephen Brenkley of the Independent shines a spotlight on Surrey, who, despite their money, are languishing at the bottom while Durham who were close to bankruptcy are eyeing their third title in six years
09-Sep-2013
Surrey, despite their money and influence - Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Hashim Amla have all turned up for them in this season alone - are languishing at the bottom of Division One. But Championship favourites, Durham, without a single international player on the roster and having required substantial assistance from the council to keep them alive, are on the brink of securing their third title in six years. Stephen Brenkley, in the Independent, highlights the contrasts between the two sides.
Financially, the clubs are poles apart. Surrey, commercially acute and well run, made £800,000 last year. Durham, operating in a depressed region, has been helped enormously by Durham County Council's backing. They came up with £2.6m when the club was facing a bleak future. David Harker, the chief executive who has been instrumental in the development of the county as an international venue, said: "The political leadership sees this club as an important asset to the region." Indeed in a recent survey which asked people what was their first thought when Durham was mentioned, more than half said cricket.
Kevin Iles walks Andy Bull of the Guardian through his century in the Village Cup final at Lord's in 1990 - an innings that required only 45 minutes.
A leg-spinner was on, which made Iles groan. That was the one thing he didn't want to face. "He came up and give it a big rip, and it pitched, but it didn't turn. And he did it again, and it still didn't turn, and I thought: 'Well, this is all right.'" He hit him for four sixes in a row. And that was the start of what Wisden called "the finest innings seen at Lord's in many a day"