Durham Do It Again

Online, September 15, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Durham finally wrapped up their second successive County Championship title by completing an innings victory over Nottinghamshire at the Riverside.

The reigning champions headed into the game against their second-placed rivals needing to take at least 11 points.
A draw would have been enough, but Durham wrapped up an innings and 52-run win early on the final afternoon when Steve Harmison bowled Mark Ealham.

Durham could still equal the modern-day record of 10 wins in a season. This was their eighth Championship win of the summer. And, with still two games left, they can equal the 10 wins achieved by Surrey in 2002 and Sussex a year later, the most since the County Championship split into two divisions in 2000.

The county have now won trophies in each of the last three seasons, with their successive Championship wins preceded by lifting the 2007 FP Trophy.

It looks like a winning mentality is now seeping into the squad because of that success and has been exemplified by key individual performances.

Both Michael Di Venuto and Dale Benkenstein have scored more than 1,000 Championship runs, while Liam Plunkett, Graham Onions and Steve Harmison have all taken more than 40 wickets in the four-day game.

With the bowling and batting that captain Will Smith has at his disposal Durham could be a force to be reckoned with for a longtime.