Durham County Cricket Club started the 2005 season with odds of 20-1 to win the Second Division of the County Championship, and in one-day cricket they started the season in Division Two of the National League. However, they were promoted in both competitions - in the County Championship, they finished second after an initial run of four wins and eight matches without defeat. They only lost two of 16 Championship matches, securing promotion a week before the end of the tournament. In the National League, they were promoted with two weeks to spare, and won their last five matches - yet finished two points behind Sussex Sharks, who had a similar run. The cup competitions gave them lower final placings, however - in the C&G Trophy, they were knocked out in the first round by Derbyshire, and without internationals Mike Hussey and Paul Collingwood, who played in the NatWest Series, they lost five of eight matches in the group stages in the Twenty20 Cup to finish fifth in the North Division.
Durham played 16 first class games in 2005, winning six, drawing eight and losing two. In 20 List A matches, they won twelve, lost six, and had two no-results, while eight Twenty20 matches resulted in two wins, five losses and one no-result. Players Jimmy Maher Ashley Noffke Brad Williams David Barrick Dale Benkenstein Gareth Breese Graeme Bridge Kyle Coetzer Paul Collingwood Mark Davies Michael Gough Gavin Hamilton Stephen Harmison Neil Killeen Jonathan Lewis James Lowe Gordon Muchall Philip Mustard Graham Onions Nicky Peng Liam Plunkett Andrew Pratt Gary Pratt Gary Scott Callum Thorp Mark Turner Alan Walker
Tables
Championship + 2005 County Championship - Division Two Pos Team Pld W D L Pen Bat Bowl Pts 1 Lancashire 16 7 6 3 0 43 47 212 2 Durham 16 6 8 2 0 45 44 205 3 Yorkshire 16 5 10 1 0.5 49 42 200.5 4 Northamptonshire 16 5 8 3 0 45 46 193 5 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 51 36 185 6 Worcestershire 16 5 4 7 5.5 53 46 179.5 7 Leicestershire 16 3 7 6 0.5 45 45 159.5 8 Somerset 16 4 5 7 0 42 37 155 9 Derbyshire 16 1 7 8 0 31 43 116
totesport League + 2005 totesport League - Division Two Pos Team Pld W L NR T Pts 1 Sussex Sharks 18 13 4 1 0 54 2 Durham Dynamos 18 12 4 2 0 52 3 Warwickshire Bears 18 10 6 2 0 44 4 Leicestershire Foxes 18 10 7 1 0 42 5 Derbyshire Phantoms 18 9 7 1 1 40 6 Somerset Sabres 18 9 8 1 0 38 7 Surrey Lions 18 7 10 1 0 30 8 Kent Spitfires 18 6 10 2 0 28 9 Yorkshire Phoenix 18 5 13 0 0 20 10 Scottish Saltires 18 2 14 1 1 12
Twenty20 Group Stage (North) + 2005 Twenty20 Cup - North Division Team M W L NR Pts NRRLancashire Lightning861113+1.77Leicestershire Foxes852111+0.25Derbyshire Phantoms84319-0.45Yorkshire Phoenix83506-0.70Durham Dynamos82515-0.87Nottinghamshire Outlaws82604+0.13
Match details
April Durham won all four games in April, taking two Championship wins well inside the four-day time limit as they beat Leicestershire by an innings inside three days, gaining 22 points and the Championship lead, and Worcestershire by seven wickets inside two days, which they kept . In the National League, they won their first game against Leicestershire by nine runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method to go second in the table behind Yorkshire on net run rate. They followed this up with a 138-run win over Surrey, their highest win margin by runs all season, to take over the lead in the National League as well.
County Championship: Leicestershire v Durham (13–15 April) Durham (22pts) beat Leicestershire (1pt) by an innings and 216 runs
Durham won the toss against Leicestershire and elected to bat first at Grace Road, Leicester. Durham's Australian left-handed opener, Mike Hussey, who had not yet been selected for Australia's Test team, then made an undefeated 165 off 290 balls on the first day. Former England Under-19 batsman Gordon Muchall helped Hussey add 166 for the third-wicket partnership, before being run out for 82, and Durham finished day one on 325 for 3.
On the second day, Hussey powered on, and was seventh man out for 253, an innings that included three sixes and 33 fours. Durham finally declared on 523 for 8 off 161 overs. It did not get much better for Leicestershire when they finally did get to bat on a pitch was much less placid than on the first day. Liam Plunkett soon took their first four wickets, and also had a dropped catch off his bowling, as Leicestershire made it to 49 for 4. Leicestershire went on to finish their first innings on 123 all out, and Plunkett finished with five for 43, to make Leicestershire follow on exactly 400 behind. They made 10 without loss by the end of the day. Steve Harmison, England's fast bowler whose Test wickets had come at a bowling average above 60 on the recent tour of South Africa, could not take a wicket and was upstaged by Plunkett.
Durham spent 70.3 third-day overs on the process of finishing off Leicestershire. Harmison got his first first-class wickets of the season, grabbing four for 30 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 184. At one stage, Harmison had taken three wickets in a 15-ball spell without conceding a run. Plunkett also added to his first-innings five-for, with three for 55, and only one Leicestershire batsman, John Maunders, was able to score a fifty. (Cricinfo scorecard)
National League: Leicestershire v Durham (17 April) Durham (4pts) beat Leicestershire (0pts) by nine runs (D/L method)
Leicestershire Foxes won the toss at Grace Road, Leicester and elected to bat. Liam Plunkett continued his run after eight wickets in the Championship match, dismissing John Maunders and Aftab Habib early, as the Foxes lost their first two wickets for four runs. Darren Maddy and HD Ackerman then put on 98 for the third wicket, before Durham took the last six wickets for 73 as Leicestershire ended on 175 for 8 off their 45 overs. Durham Dynamos were 85 for 3 from 22 overs when rain prevented further play, leaving Durham the winners on the Duckworth-Lewis method. (BBC scorecard)
County Championship: Durham v Worcestershire (20–21 April) Durham (19pts) beat Worcestershire (3pts) by seven wickets
Worcestershire won the toss at Chester-le-Street and chose to bat first, and Stephen Peters and Stephen Moore started them off with a 75-run opening stand. Then Mark Davies, who played 12 of 17 matches in 2005, took six wickets for 32 to reduce them to 120, before Steve Harmison (three wickets) and Paul Collingwood (one wicket) finished off the tail to bowl Worcestershire out for 171. Collingwood then returned with the bat and got to 88 not out, to leave Durham 32 behind with eight wickets in hand at the close of play.
On the second day, Collingwood completed his century, falling for 129 when Durham were 229 for 4. The last six Durham wickets then added 57 to leave them with a lead of 115. Liam Plunkett, who had taken eight wickets in the first game but conceded 55 runs for no wicket in the first innings in this second game, then returned to knock out three top-order wickets. The rest of the bowling unit performed well, and Steve Harmison took a hat-trick on his way to five for 61. Harmison later said, "The way I was feeling, my tail was up and I felt I could go through them. The position they were in I don’t think they were too keen to hang around. Before the last ball [of the hat-trick], I felt confident. It was a decent ball in a decent area and I was glad when he [David Wigley] chopped it on."
Chaminda Vaas top-scored with 42 not out, as Worcester were bowled out for 146. This left Durham a target of 32 to win, which they got for the loss of three wickets to win with two days to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard)
National League: Durham v Surrey (24 April) Durham (4pts) beat Surrey (0pts) by 138 runs
Durham Dynamos continued their 100% record to the season by scoring two and a half times as many runs as Surrey Lions at Chester-le-Street. The Lions chose to bowl first after winning the toss, and Tim Murtagh took three for 12 to peg back Durham. However, a stand between Dale Benkenstein and Gordon Muchall put on 100 helped the Dynamos to 224 for 8. The Lions then lost four wickets for two runs between the sixth and eighth overs, to be 27 for 4 and require 197 for the last six wickets. Liam Plunkett and Benkenstein took 4 wickets each as Surrey were dismissed for 86 in 30.1 overs. This was Surrey's fourth successive match without a victory. (Cricinfo scorecard)
May Durham's 100%-record was broken by the rain, as the National League matches with Scottish Saltires and Sussex Sharks were rained off to leave Durham second in the National League table behind Yorkshire. On 5 May, they suffered their first loss, as Derbyshire beat them by one wicket. However, two Championship matches followed from 6 to 13 May, and Durham lengthened their run of Championship victories to four, beating Somerset at home and Lancashire at Old Trafford. Two days after beating Lancashire, Durham beat Yorkshire in the National League to go top of the table, and Yorkshire stayed in the North for a Championship match - Durham's win streak was broken as they teams drew, but Durham took ten points, as they finished their fourth innings on 226 for 8 chasing 245. The month was rounded off with a draw against Durham UCCE and two National League matches, one win and one loss (their first League loss of the season) to leave Durham with a 7.5-point lead in the Championship and a four-point lead in the League (although Yorkshire in second place had two games in hand).
National League: Scotland v Durham (1 May) Match abandoned - Scotland (2pts), Durham (2pts)
This match, which was due to be played at The Grange, Edinburgh, was rained off without a ball being bowled. (BBC news)
National League: Durham v Sussex (2 May) No result - Durham (2pts), Sussex (2pts)
At Chester-le-Street Durham Dynamos won the toss and put Sussex Sharks in to bat. Steve Harmison bowled well for his 1 for 24 off 9 overs, though it was Mick Lewis who took the wickets, ending with 5 for 48. For the Sharks, Johannes van der Wath top scored with 80 and shared a 110-run partnership with Robin Martin-Jenkins to pull Sussex out from 60 for 5 to a final total of 182 for 7 in 45 overs. In reply the Dynamos slumped to 9 for 2 off 7.3 overs, losing both openers for ducks before rain came and finished the match 15 balls before Duckworth-Lewis could be applied. (Cricinfo scorecard)
C&G Trophy Round One: Durham v Derbyshire (4–5 May) Derbyshire beat Durham by one wicket to progress to Round Two of the C&G Trophy
Durham put on 234 in their 50 overs at Chester-le-Street, mostly thanks Paul Collingwood, who scored 82 from 83 balls. Derbyshire's Spin bowler Ant Botha took four for 44 from his ten overs, with three men caught. In reply, England Test bowler Steve Harmisontook three for 45, including Michael Di Venuto lbw with his third ball and Hassan Adnan caught at first slip. Derbyshire lost their first three wickets for 54, but their innings was anchored by Chris Bassano who made 57 from 104 balls. This, along with 50 from Graeme Welch, kept Derbyshire in the game, but it needed a tenth wicket partnership of 16 between Botha and Kevin Dean to see them through on the last ball of the game. (Cricinfo scorecard)
County Championship: Durham v Somerset (6–9 May) Durham (19pts) beat Somerset (5pts) by four wickets