Durham County Cricket Club (rebranded as Durham Cricket in February 2019) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

structure of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It represents the

historic History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

county of Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. Founded in 1882, Durham held minor status for over a century and was a prominent member of the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

, winning the competition seven times. In 1992, the club joined the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

and the team was elevated to senior status as an official first-class team. Durham has been classified as an occasional

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

team from 1964, then as a full List A team from 1992; and as a senior

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

team since the format's introduction in 2003. Durham CCC competes in the Specsavers County Championship, the

Royal London One-Day Cup The One-Day Cup, currently known as the Metro Bank One Day Cup, is a fifty-over limited overs cricket competition for the England and Wales first-class counties. It began in 2014 as a replacement for the ECB 40 tournament, which ran from 2010 ...

and in the North Group of the

NatWest t20 Blast The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is t ...

. They won the

in 2008 for the first time, retained the trophy in the 2009 season, and then won it for a third time in 2013. In one-day competition, they won the 50-over

Friends Provident Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...

in 2007 and the inaugural 50-over Royal London One-Day Cup in 2014. Having been relegated from Division One of the County Championship as part of the conditions for a package of financial support from the ECB, Durham played in Division Two of the County Championship from 2017 to 2023, when they won promotion back to Division One. The club's limited overs kit colours are yellow and blue in the

, and also yellow and blue colours in the

t20 Blast The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is t ...

. Durham is currently sponsored by several companies including

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...

and

Port of Tyne The Port of Tyne comprises the commercial docks on and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England. History There has been a port on the Tyne at least since the Romans used their settlement of Arbeia to supply the g ...

, as well as 188Bet as their betting partner. The team was sponsored by

Northern Rock Northern Rock, formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, was a British bank. Based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, Northern Rock was originally a building society. It demutualised and became Northern Rock bank in ...

prior to the bank's nationalisation in 2008. The club is based at the

Riverside Ground The Riverside Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as the Banks Homes Riverside, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club, and has also hosted several international matches. ...

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street () is a market town in County Durham, England. It is located around north of Durham and is close to Newcastle. The town holds markets on Saturdays. In 2021, the town had a population of 23,555. The town's history is ancient; ...

, which is one of the newest additions to the English Test match circuit, hosting its first match – the second 2003 England v Zimbabwe Test – from 5 to 7 June.

History

Earliest cricket in Durham

Cricket probably did not reach Durham until the 18th century. The earliest reference is a game at Raby Castle on or soon after 5 August 1751 between the Earl of Northumberland's XI and the Duke of Cleveland's XI. The game was commemorated by a ballad which starts: :::''Durham City has been dull so long,'' :::''No bustle at all to show;'' :::''But now the rage of all the throng'' :::''Is at cricketing to go.'' As it happens, there was a return game soon afterwards at Stanwick, near Richmond, and that is the earliest reference to cricket in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. The first recorded match of representative cricket in the county took place in 1848 at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, between an All England XII and a Bishopwearmouth 22. Despite their extra numbers the cricketers of Bishopwearmouth were comprehensively outplayed as All England's scores of 129 and 143 dwarfed their own 56 and 59. The first team to carry the name of 'Durham County' played an MCC team in 1876 and went on to take on the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

in 1878, winning by 71 runs, and again in 1880, losing by an innings and 38, with the great

Fred Spofforth Frederick Robert Spofforth (9 September 1853 – 4 June 1926), also known as "The Demon Bowler", was an Australian cricket team pace bowler of the nineteenth century. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a Tes ...

taking 17 wickets for 66.

Origin of club

Durham CCC was founded as an official entity on 23 May 1882, and the nascent club played its first competitive match on 12 June of that year, beating

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

by 4

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s at the

Ashbrooke Ashbrooke is a residential area of Sunderland, North East England directly south and south-west of the city centre. Ashbrooke developed through the Victorian era as Sunderland's first suburb. Originally occupied by large middle-class familie ...

Ground, Sunderland. The club established an enviable record as a

minor county Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

: becoming the first minor county to beat a first-class county in the Gillette Cup (defeating Yorkshire in round one in 1973, and then in 1985 beating Derbyshire at the same stage); winning the Minor Counties Championship a record-equalling seven times between 1901 and 1984; and putting together a record of 65 matches without defeat between 1976 and 1982 that remains unbroken.

Durham as a first-class county

1989 - 2005

Early in 1989, the club began the process of applying to become a first-class cricketing county and join the

. First-class status was awarded on 6 December 1991, with Durham becoming the first new first-class county for 70 years. Their first season in the County Championship was the 1992 season. For over a decade after gaining their status, Durham were not distinguished by marked success as a first-class county. In the 2004 season they finished bottom of the two-division County Championship, sixth out of ten teams in the one-day

National Cricket League The National Cricket League () is the oldest domestic first-class cricket competition in Bangladesh. It is contested by teams representing seven of the eight regional divisions of Bangladesh (there is no team from Mymensingh Division) as well as ...

and fifth out of six teams in the Northern Division of the

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is ...

. However, in 2005 under the captaincy of Australian

Mike Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

Durham finished second and achieved promotion in both the

and the one-day National Cricket League.

2006 - 2015: One Day Trophy and County Championship victories

Hussey was prevented from returning to the Riverside in 2006 as he was contracted to the Australian international team; and with vice-captain

Paul Collingwood Paul David Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricket coach and former player, who played in all three formats of the game internationally for England cricket team, England. He played for Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood was a ...

away on English international team duty Dale Benkenstein was captain for 2006. Durham had mixed success in the 2006 season, finishing second in the North Division of the

C&G Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

. However, Durham were poor in the Twenty20 cup, finishing last in the North Division and only managing 2 victories, both against Lancashire. The

Pro40 The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on da ...

campaign started fairly well, with Durham taking 4 points from the first 4 games with a win, a loss, a tie and a no result. However, several defeats left them needing a win against the champions elect,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, in the final game of the season. They managed the victory, but other results did not go their way and they ended up being relegated in 8th place. The Championship season also began with success, but mediocre results in the middle of the season left Durham hanging above the relegation zone by just half a point going into the last game of the season. Durham needed more points than their rivals

, but looked in trouble when

Darren Lehmann Darren Scott Lehmann (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who coached the Australian national team. He is currently head coach at Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Lehmann made his ODI debut in 1996 an ...

hit a career-best 339 in the first innings. Achieving just one bowling bonus point meant that Durham needed to score 400 without losing more than 5 wickets and then draw the game. However, one other team could also be relegated.

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

needed just 3 points to avoid the drop at the start of the matches, but only managed 1 point as they were soundly beaten by

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. This meant that Durham needed only to score 400 (for maximum batting points) and force a draw. At 191–6 this looked unlikely. But a record-breaking stand of 315 between Benkenstein and

Ottis Gibson Ottis Delroy Gibson (born 16 March 1969) is a cricket coach and former cricketer from Barbados, who played for the West Indies. From 2010 to 2014, Gibson was the head coach for the West Indies, where he led the team to be champions of the 2012 ...

made it possible. Gibson was out for 155, the highest first-class score in his career. Durham then collapsed again to 518 all out, needing work to be done in the second innings. This was provided by Garry Park, who hit a maiden first-class century (100*) as Durham played out a draw, leaving themselves and Yorkshire in the first division. During the 2007 season the club won its first major trophy, the

, by beating the 2005 winners

Hampshire Hawks Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamp ...

in a game which started on 18 finishing a day later due to rain. The toss between

Dale Benkenstein Dale Martin Benkenstein (born 9 June 1974) is a South African former cricketer who was an all-rounder. He is also a former first-team coach at Lancashire and Hampshire. Benkenstein was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC Kno ...

and

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

was won by the latter who sent Durham into bat. Fellow Aussie

Michael Di Venuto Michael James Di Venuto (born 12 December 1973) is an Australian cricket coach and former first-class cricketer who represented both Australia (in One Day Internationals) and Italy. The bulk of his first-class cricket career was spent playing ...

and

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

Phil Mustard Philip Mustard (born 8 October 1982) is an English cricketer. Background Mustard was educated at Usworth Comprehensive, and is a keen football fan who played at Manchester United until aged 13, and then Middlesbrough FC until aged 15, and he co ...

opened the batting. Mustard looked strong from ball 1 but Di Venuto was a little shaky and was dismissed by Hampshire's

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

international

Daren Powell Daren Brent Lyle Powell (born 15 April 1978) is a former West Indian international cricketer who played first-class cricket for Jamaica. As a right-arm fast medium bowler, he has played Test matches and One Day Internationals (ODI) for the ...

and caught by

Michael Carberry Michael Alexander Carberry (born 29 September 1980) is an English former professional cricketer who most recently played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Carberry is a left-handed opening batsman who bowls occasional right-arm off break ...

. Ex-Scotland u-19 captain

Kyle Coetzer Kyle James Coetzer (born 14 April 1984) is a Scottish former cricketer who has captained the Scottish youth national sides in international formats. He captained at under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels including skippering in the 2004 U-19 Cri ...

and Shiv Chanderpaul made significant contributions (61 and 78 respectively), the latter being run-out. Captain Benkenstein made a quickfire 61 off 43 deliveries. Durham finished their innings on 312–5. Michael Lumb and ex-captain

John Crawley John Paul Crawley (born 21 September 1971) is a former English first-class cricketer who played at international level for England and county cricket for Hampshire and Lancashire. Crawley, one of three brothers who all played first-class cric ...

opened for the Hawks, the former departing for a golden duck, caught at second slip by Di Venuto.

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Sean Ervine Sean Michael Ervine (born 6 December 1982) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer. Ervine played as an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled right-arm medium pace. Ervine was born at Harare in Zimbabwe and played for his country in the 200 ...

was next in, immediately edging to second slip in identical fashion leaving

on a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...

survived that ball, but was soon back in the pavilion with 12.

managed a resilient 68 but was bowled by

who was to finish with 3–33. The rain came down and play was delayed until the following day. With the fall of Nic Pothas (47) and Dimitri Mascarenhas (12) the tail was exposed and was quickly disposed of with Hampshire finishing on 187, handing Durham a historic win. Veteran

was named man of the match for his spell of 3–24 at the start of the Hampshire innings, which included wickets with his first two deliveries. In September 2008, Durham claimed their first

by winning their final match of the season at Canterbury, against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. Durham won the match by an innings, condemning Kent to be relegated, and moving 8 points clear of runners up,

. Twelve months later, Durham retained their

title defeating Nottinghamshire by an innings and 52 runs at a sun soaked Riverside Ground in front of 5,000 jubilant supporters. For the 2011 season, Durham County Cricket Club wished to return to a more traditional arrangement and have insisted on a smart dress code including jackets for gentlemen at all games. In September 2013 Durham won the

for a third time after beating Nottinghamshire by 8 wickets at Chester le Street. Durham won the 2014 One-Day Cup, defeating Warwickshire by three wickets in the final at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

on 20 September 2014. During this period of success Durham saw a number of homegrown players go on to make an impact on the

side. Players such as

(who was the first Durham CCC player to hit a Test century and double century and captained England to victory at the

2010 ICC World Twenty20 The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was the third edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in the West Indies between 30 April and 16 May 2010. It was wo ...

Steve Harmison Stephen James Harmison, (born 23 October 1978) is an English former first-class cricketer, who played all formats of the game. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODIs, and 2 T20s. He also played county cricket ...

Liam Plunkett Liam Edward Plunkett (born 6 April 1985) is an English cricketer who bowls right-arm fast medium. He was an England cricket team, England international until 2019, and was part of the squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He most recently ...

Graham Onions Graham Onions (born 9 September 1982) is an English former cricketer. He played for Durham, Lancashire and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onion ...

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is List of England cricket captains, the captain of the England cricket team, England Test cricket, Test team. Stokes has played for England in all three forma ...

(who became England Test captain in 2022) and Mark Wood formed part of successful England sides of the 21st Century, including the

2005 Ashes series The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors. The ...

2009 Ashes series The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played fi ...

2010–11 Ashes series The 2010–11 Ashes series (known as the Vodafone Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was the 66th series of Test cricket matches played to contest The Ashes. The series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of the ...

and

2015 Ashes series The 2015 Ashes series (named Investec Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes. The venues were Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), Lord's (London), Edgbaston (Birmingham), ...

. Other Durham players to feature for England during this time included

Scott Borthwick Scott George Borthwick (born 19 April 1990) is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and leg-break bowler who captains Durham. He was born in Sunderland. Domestic career Borthwick played in the North East Premier League for Philadelp ...

Keaton Jennings Keaton Kent Jennings (born 19 June 1992) is a South African-born English cricketer who captains Lancashire County Cricket Club and has represented England. He is a left-handed opening batsman who also bowls right-arm medium-fast. He made his in ...

and

Mark Stoneman Mark Daniel Stoneman (born 26 June 1987) is an English cricketer who plays for Hampshire County Cricket Club and has previously played for England. He made his international debut for England in August 2017. He bats left handed and normally pla ...

2016 - 2022: Financial issues and relegation

Following a series of financial "bailout" payments made by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

to Durham during the 2016 season, the county, which had finished fourth in Division One at the end of the season, were relegated to Division Two in place of the eighth place team,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Durham were also placed under a salary cap administered by the ECB until 2020 and started the 2017 Championship season with a deduction of 48 points. The club's eligibility to bid to stage Test cricket at the Riverside Ground was also removed although club will still be eligible to bid to host one-day and Twenty20 international matches. The decision led to a number of first team players leaving the club, including Borthwick and Stoneman (to Surrey) and Jennings (to Lancashire). However, some players who left following the relegation would later return as the club rebuilt, including Borthwick, Ben Raine and

Paul Coughlin Paul Coughlin (born 23 October 1992) is an English cricketer. Coughlin is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace. He was born at Sunderland, County Durham, and was educated at St Robert of Newminster Catholic Comprehensive Schoo ...

and Mark Wood were part of the England team which won the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

, with Stokes playing a starring role in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in which he was named man of the match. The Riverside Ground hosted 3 games of the tournament. Durham reached the final of the 2021 One-Day Cup but lost by 58 runs in the final to

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. Stokes and Wood were also part of the England squad which won the

2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the eighth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20. It was played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. In the final, England cricket team, England beat Pakist ...

. Other Durham players to earn England call ups in these years included

Alex Lees Alexander Zak Lees (born 14 April 1993), popularly known as Alex Lees, is an English professional cricketer who plays internationally for the England Test cricket team. In domestic cricket, he represents Durham, captaining the List A and T20 ...

Matthew Potts Matthew James Potts (born 29 October 1998) is an English cricketer. Potts is a right-arm pace bowler and lower order batter. He plays first-class cricket for Durham and made his Test match debut for the England cricket team in June 2022. Dome ...

and

Brydon Carse Brydon Alexander Carse (born 31 July 1995) is an English cricketer who plays for Durham and England. Primarily a right-arm fast bowler, he also bats right handed. Born in South Africa, he is the son of Zimbabwean cricketer James Alexander Car ...

. On 28 April 2022, Stokes was named as England's new

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

captain, replacing

Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...

. On 6 May 2022, in Stokes' first match since becoming England's captain, he hit 17 sixes against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, setting a new record for sixes hit in a single innings of a match in the County Championship. Stokes scored 161 runs from 88 balls, which included the fastest century in first-class cricket by a

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

player.

2023 - present: Return to Division One

In December 2022, former Australia cricketer and

Netherlands cricket team The Netherlands men's national cricket team (), usually referred as "The Flying Dutchmen" is a team that represents the Netherlands in men's international cricket and is administered by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Cricket has been pl ...

coach

Ryan Campbell Ryan John Campbell (born 7 February 1972) is an Australian former cricketer who represented both Australia and Hong Kong internationally. He is the current head coach of Durham, on a contract covering the 2023 to 2025 seasons. Campbell was b ...

was appointed head coach of Durham on a three-year contract to the end of the 2025 season, succeeding James Franklin. Under Campbell Durham won the 2023 Division Two title to secure a return to Division One for the first time since the 2016 relegation.

Ground history

The club's acceptance into

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

was made conditional on the building of a new Test match-standard cricket ground. Work began on the new ground at the Riverside, a spectacular location overlooked by

Lumley Castle Lumley Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle at Chester-le-Street in the North of England, near the city of Durham, and a property of the Earl of Scarbrough. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a hotel. History It is name ...

, in 1990, and the ground hosted its first game, Durham v

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, on 18 May 1995. Development of the Riverside Ground has continued until the present day, and in 2003 the Riverside Ground was raised to Test match status. The ground has been used for six England Test matches, against

in 2003,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in 2005, two against

in June 2007 and May 2009, an Ashes Test Match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 2013, and against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in 2016. England have won all six of these tests. As part of the conditions of a package of financial support announced in October 2016, the ECB imposed a number of sanctions on Durham County Cricket Club, including removal of the club's eligibility to bid to stage Test cricket at the Riverside Ground. The club will still be eligible to bid to host one-day and Twenty20 international matches. The Riverside hosted 3 games of the

. This following table gives details of every venue at which Durham have hosted a first-class or

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the num ...

match: * Located in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, historically part of

Players

Since Durham's induction as a first-class county, each player has been allocated a unique squad number. The first 11 numbers were allocated in batting order from the club's first game, and subsequent numbers have been allocated in order of appearance.

Current squad

* No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. * denotes players with international caps.

Lists of players and club captains

List of Durham CCC players This is a list in alphabetical order of cricketers who have played for Durham County Cricket Club in top-class matches since December 1991 when the team was elevated to official first-class status, the club joining the County Championship in 199 ...

* List of Durham cricket captains

Durham players with international caps

Durham county cricketers who have during their career also represented their national team in

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

cricket. England *

Ian Blackwell Ian David Blackwell (born 10 June 1978) is an English cricket umpire and retired professional cricketer. A left-arm orthodox spinner and powerful middle-order batsman, he played for England at One Day International (ODI) and Test level, and most ...

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as one of ...

* Simon Brown *

Geoff Cook Geoffrey Cook (born 9 October 1951) is a former English cricketer, who played in seven Test matches and six One Day Internationals from 1981 to 1983. Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, stated "A player held in great respect by his fellow professi ...

Graeme Fowler Graeme "Foxy" Fowler (born 20 April 1957) is an English former professional cricketer and cricket coach, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England, and later for Durham. He appeared in 21 Test matches and 26 One Day International ...

Gavin Hamilton Gavin Hamilton may refer to: * Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews * Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway * Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist * Ga ...

Wayne Larkins Wayne Larkins (born 22 November 1953) is an English former cricketer, who represented Northamptonshire, Durham and Bedfordshire as an opening batsman throughout his career. He was selected to play for England as Graham Gooch's opening partner ...

* John Morris *

* Paul Parker *

Martin Saggers Martin John Saggers (born 23 May 1972) is an English county cricket umpire and a retired English cricketer. He played international cricket for the England cricket team, including appearing in three Test matches and spent the majority of his fi ...

Vince Wells Vincent John Wells (born 6 August 1965) is an English former professional cricketer. He played nine Limited Overs Internationals for the England cricket team during January–April 1999 and was a member of the squad for the 1999 Cricket World C ...

* Mark Wood Australia *

Cameron Bancroft Cameron Timothy Bancroft (born 19 November 1992) is an Australian cricketer contracted to Western Australia in Australian first class cricket, Gloucestershire in English first class cricket, and the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League. He ma ...

David Boon David Clarence Boon (born 29 December 1960) is an Australian cricket match referee, former cricket commentator and Australian cricket team, international cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1996. A right-han ...

* John Hastings *

Brad Hodge Bradley John Hodge (born 29 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who batted in the middle order, as well as a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. Hodge was a member of the Australi ...

Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

* Dean Jones *

Simon Katich Simon Matthew Katich (born 21 August 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He captained New South Wales and also, until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Katich also played for Lancashire, represen ...

Mick Lewis Michael Llewellyn Lewis (born 29 June 1974) is an Australian cricketer. Grade career and state career Born in Greensborough, Victoria, Lewis was a grade cricketer who played for Northcote and the Victorian Bushrangers gave him his first-class ...

Martin Love Martin Lloyd Love (born 30 March 1974) is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Test matches from 2002 to 2003. He was a right-handed batsman. Early life Love was educated at Mundubbera State School and Toowoomba Grammar School. He ...

Jimmy Maher James Patrick Maher (born 27 February 1974) is an Australian former cricketer, who played One Day Internationals. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive". He was a part of the Australian squad which won the 2003 ...

Ashley Noffke Ashley Allan Noffke (born 30 April 1977) is a former Australian professional cricketer who played domestically for Queensland (1998–2009) and Western Australia (2009–2010). Noffke, who primarily played as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, als ...

Marcus North Marcus James North (born 28 July 1979) is a former Australian first-class cricketer who played 21 Test matches and two One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the Australian national side. Born in Melbourne, North grew up in Western Australia, att ...

D'Arcy Short D'Arcy John Matthew Short (born 9 August 1990) is an Australian international cricketer, who plays One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for the Australian national team. At the domestic level, he plays for Western ...

Shaun Tait Shaun Tait (born 22 February 1983) is a former Australian professional cricketer who was appointed as the bowling coach of the Pakistan national cricket team in February 2022. He played as a right arm fast bowler

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Othe ...

* Brad Williams Canada *

Anderson Cummins Anderson Cleophas Cummins (born 7 May 1966) is a Barbadian former international cricketer who represented both the West Indies and Canada. He was primarily a fast-medium bowler. He played 5 Tests and 63 ODIs for the West Indies between 1991 a ...

India *

Varun Aaron Varun Raymond Aaron (born 29 October 1989) is an Indian former cricketer from Jamshedpur. A right-arm fast bowler, he first played for Jharkhand U-19 followed by Jharkhand Ranji team. He played his first One Day International (ODI) for India in ...

Axar Patel Akshar Rajeshbai Patel, known simply as Axar Patel, (born 20 January 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the national team in all formats of the game as an all-rounder as well as vice-captain of India in T20I format. He pla ...

Manoj Prabhakar Manoj Prabhakar (born 15 April 1963) is a former Indian cricketer and coach, who recently coached Nepal National Cricket Team. He was a right-arm medium-pace bowler and a lower-order batsman, and also opened the innings a few times for the Ind ...

Javagal Srinath Javagal Srinath (, born 31 August 1969) is a former Indian cricketer and currently an ICC match referee. He is considered among India's finest fast bowlers and is the only Indian fast bowler till date to have taken more than 300 wickets in O ...

Ireland *

Peter Chase Peter Karl David Chase (born 9 October 1993) is an Irish cricketer who played for Durham County Cricket Club. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler who also bats right handed. In December 2018, he was one of nineteen players to be awarded a centr ...

Barry McCarthy Barry John McCarthy (born 13 September 1992) is an Irish cricketer. He made his first-class debut in 2015, and plays for the Ireland cricket team, and previously the English side Durham. Primarily a right-arm medium pace bowler, he also bats ...

Stuart Poynter Stuart William Poynter (born 18 October 1990) is an English-born Irish cricketer who has played for Durham County Cricket Club as a wicket-keeper. He made his One Day International debut against Scotland in September 2014. He made his Twenty20 ...

Italy *

Netherlands * Brandon Glover *

Bas de Leede Bastiaan Franciscus Wilhelmus de Leede (born 15 November 1999) is a Dutch cricketer. He comes from a cricketing family and his father, Tim de Leede, too played for the Netherlands, in 29 One Day Internationals (ODIs). Career He made his List A ...

* Paul van Meekeren New Zealand *

Nathan Astle Nathan John Astle (born 15 September 1971) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played all formats of the game. A right-handed batsman who played as an opener in One Day Internationals (ODI), while batting in the middle order in Test matches. ...

* Tom Latham *

Ajaz Patel Ajaz Yunus Patel (born 21 October 1988) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for Central Districts in domestic cricket. He emigrated with his family from Mumbai when he was eight years old, and was formerly a left-arm seam bowler. Patel is a sl ...

Scott Styris Scott Bernardo Styris (born 10 July 1975) is a New Zealand cricket commentator and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game. An allrounder, Styris played as an aggressive right-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm medium p ...

Ross Taylor Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor (born 8 March 1984) is a former New Zealand international cricketer and former captain of the New Zealand national team. Batting predominantly at number four, when he announced his retirement from international ...

Paul Wiseman Paul John Wiseman (born 4 May 1970) is a New Zealand former international cricketer. "Wiz", as he was nicknamed, was an off spinner who took nine wickets in an innings for Canterbury against Central Districts in Christchurch to record the secon ...

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

Pakistan *

Shoaib Akhtar Shoaib Akhtar (; born 13 August 1975) is a Pakistani former international cricketer and commentator. Nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express", he is the fastest bowler in cricketing history, with an unbeaten 161.3 kmph (100.23 mph) delivery. Akht ...

Scotland * James Brinkley *

* Michael Jones * Calum MacLeod * Gavin Main *

Moneeb Iqbal Moneeb Iqbal (born 28 February 1986) is a Scottish cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and leg-break bowler. Having first represented Scottish cricket team, Scotland in 2002, making his debut at the age of fifteen in the 2002 Under-19 World ...

South Africa *

David Bedingham David Guy Bedingham (born 22 April 1994) is a South African cricketer. He holds United Kingdom ancestry visa and qualified for English county cricket as a local player. Bedingham was a member of the South African team which won the 2025 ICC Wor ...

Stephen Cook Stephen Arthur Cook (born December 14, 1939) is an American-Canadian computer scientist and mathematician who has made significant contributions to the fields of complexity theory and proof complexity. He is a university professor emeritus at ...

Herschelle Gibbs Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for fourteen years. A right-handed batsman,who mostly opened the batting, Gibbs became the first player to ...

Neil McKenzie Neil Douglas McKenzie (born 24 November 1975) is a South African former cricketer, who played all three forms of the game. He was a right-handed opening batsman who played for South Africa, making his first appearance in 2000. He is currently ...

Aiden Markram Aiden Kyle Markram (born 4 October 1994) is a South African cricketer who is the current captain of the South Africa national cricket team in Twenty20 International cricket. Markram had captained the South African under-19 cricket team to win th ...

* David Miller *

Albie Morkel Johannes Albertus Morkel (born 10 June 1981), better known as Albie Morkel, is a former South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium fast and bats left-handed. He was earmarked as the new Lance Klusener from an earl ...

* Dewald Pretorius *

Imran Tahir Mohammad Imran Tahir (; born 27 March 1979) is a South African former international cricketer. A spin bowler who predominantly bowls googlies and a right-handed batsman, Tahir played for South Africa in all three formats of cricket. On 15 Ju ...

Sri Lanka *

Kumar Sangakkara Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015. A former captain in all formats. He was born in Matale, Central Province. In first-class cricke ...

West Indies *

Gareth Breese Gareth Rohan Breese (born 9 January 1976) is a West Indian cricketer. Born in Montego Bay, St James, Jamaica, he attended Wolmer's Boys School in Kingston. Breese played as a right arm offspinner. Career He played one Test match in 2002, as ...

Sherwin Campbell Sherwin Legay Campbell (born 1 November 1970) is a former Barbadian cricketer who played 52 Tests and 90 One Day Internationals for the West Indies, and also a former ODI captain for Windies. Domestic career Campbell played a total of 177 fi ...

Shivnarine Chanderpaul Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul (Guyanese Hindustani, Guyanese-Hindustani: शिवनारायण चंद्रपॉल) Orders, decorations, and medals of Guyana#The Cacique's Crown of Honour, CCH (born 16 August 1974) is a Guyanese peopl ...

Reon King Reon Dane King (born 6 October 1975) is a former West Indian cricketer. King played 19 Test matches and 50 One Day Internationals for the West Indies. He also appeared for Guyana, Northerns and Durham in his cricketing career. Tall, athletic an ...

Zimbabwe *

Andy Blignaut Arnoldus Mauritius Blignaut (born 1 August 1978) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He was a right-arm fast-medium bowler, also known as a hard-hitting batsman in ODIs, where he frequently scored a fast rate; t ...

Honours

First XI honours

: 3 **

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: '' Division Two'' (1) -

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Gillette/NatWest/C&G/Friends Provident Trophy: 1 **

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: 1 **

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Sunday League/Pro 40/National League (2nd Division): 1 ** 2007 * Zimbabwean Domestic Twenty20: 1 **

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* Minor Counties Championship: 7 ** 1895 (shared), 1900 (shared), 1901, 1926, 1930, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1984 * MCCA Knockout Trophy: 1 ** 1985

Second XI honours

* Second XI Championship: 3 ** 2008, 2016, 2018 * Second XI Trophy: 0

Records

Notes

References

External sources

Official Durham County Cricket Club website

BBC Wear – Riverside Cricket Ground interactive 360° Panorama

BBC Wear – DCCC celebrate with the County Championship Trophy 2008

{{Cricket in England History of County Durham English first-class cricket teams Cricket in County Durham Cricket clubs established in 1882 1882 establishments in England First-class cricket teams