Performance of the Day - Durham County Cricket Club

With all the talk these days about reducing the number of First Class counties, Durham were probably just in time in gaining such status in 1991. Come 2007, and they are winners of the Friends Provident Trophy, one of England's two big tournaments. Congratulations are in order and, naturally, a PotD.

It's instructive to examine the players who delivered the victory. The backbone of the sides that played through the tournament are solid old pros full of nous: Dale Benkenstein (33); Ottis Gibson (38, and a shoo-in for a Wisden Cricketer of the Year); Gareth Breese (31); Michael Di Venuto (33); and Neil Killeen (31, going on 50). They've been supported by younger players such as: Phil Mustard; Will Smith; Kyle Coetzer; and Graham Onions. The stardust of the international players has been thinly spread but useful, and flowed from the hands of Liam Plunkett; Scott Styris; Shiv Chanderpaul; Paul Collingwood, and Stephen Harmison. So all in all, a Club victory, rooted in ambition and determination off the field and nous and verve on it.

Oh, and if you're thinking that few of those names sound native to the North East of England, of the 121 slots available in the FP Trophy's 11 games, local Likely Lads (and one Scot) occupied 54 of them (and it would have been a lot more, were Plunkett, Harmy and Colly not held back by England). Few counties would match that figure.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]