Down by the Riverside 2020

[captaincolly]

what is Dickson's status?

Pretty crap so far but has a british passport -eligible for England.

[Durhamfootman]

ah, fair enough. I wasn't sure if he was kolpak or not, but then we wouldn't have signed him if he had been, I suppose

[captaincolly]

ah, fair enough. I wasn't sure if he was kolpak or not, but then we wouldn't have signed him if he had been, I suppose

The one thing that gives me a little confidence is Kent offered him a new deal. He'll probably be more of a squad player than regular starter if Borthwick and Bancroft both come back but he has 10 FC hundreds so must have some ability.
Although his reputation as a brilliant fielder has taken almost as many hits as his stumps!

[westoelad]

n
@Martycricket
· 21m
It's @DurhamCricket v @leicsccc in the @VitalityBlast today in CLS.
It's the final game at the ground this season because they will begin digging up the square from tomorrow.
So are the nature of Riverside tracks going to change next season?

[westoelad]

Always thought difficulty was as much to do with overhead conditions as the track.

[Durhamfootman]

do we know what they are planning for the square? they aren't going to turn it or anything daft like that

In the past I've blamed the pitch (or at least the low scoring nature of it) on the overheads, the drainage going in, the rule change on heavy rollers, the no toss rule.... all sorts of things. I now tend to think that we have more control over how it behaves than I perhaps imagined, so maybe this is a genuine attempt by the new (newish) groundsman to affect the way it plays

we wait and see

Sadly we'll probably know within an hour of the 2021 season starting, as we usually do

[Durhamfootman]

I've even blamed our early season dreadful batting performances on the ECB penchant for usually giving us the first round of matches off, so that in our first game of the season we almost always face sides that have blown off their first match cobwebs and we invariably start the season on the backfoot with a horrible loss, from which we then struggle to recover

that's how desperate I've been

[westoelad]

The nature of the Riverside pitch undoubtedly impairs the development of young batsmen so it's good that they appear to be trying to rectify that.Doubt they'd be rotating it 90°,can't see any reason for what would be a drastic step.The water table is always high at the Riverside, short of draining the river Wear can't see how they can rectify that.

[captaincolly]

Always thought difficulty was as much to do with overhead conditions as the track.

I thought so too. They have tried to make it less bowler friendly but to no avail.

[westoelad]

Looks as if the Academy is still producing the goods
https://www.durhamcricket.co.uk/news-an ... ning-camp/

[Durhamfootman]

well lets hope England don't muck them up too much. I'm pleased for the boys, but I have a fairly dim view about England involvement in their training

[captaincolly]

Someone on twitter who gives the impression of being 'in the know' ( I've no idea whether he is or not) is saying Borthwick is going to be captain next season. If that's the case does it suggest Bancroft won't be back ? Or perhaps the captaincy was a reason Borthwick was tempted back.

[Durhamfootman]

always be wary of people who claim to be 'in the know'

[westoelad]

always be wary of people who claim to be 'in the know'

True, Nigel claimed he was in a certain department. Badger would make a decent captain but I hope it doesn't infer that Bangers isn't returning.

[westoelad]

well lets hope England don't muck them up too much. I'm pleased for the boys, but I have a fairly dim view about England involvement in their training

They'll be OK-Windows is part of the coaching staff.