Betfair Official Blog

Big guns absent for Durham

Betfair customers who have backed Durham to win the County Championship will be keeping a keen eye on how they fare against Warwickshire without their trio of England stars.

The Dynamos currently sit in third place in the Division One standings, one place behind the West Midlanders, and the two sides are set to face each other over four days at Edgbaston, beginning on Wednesday.

The north east outfit have enjoyed an excellent start to the campaign, winning two of their first three matches, thanks largely to the form of England paceman Steve Harmison, who is back among the wickets after a dreadful tour Down Under over the winter.

Liam Plunkett has also taken plenty of scalps and Paul Collingwood has chipped in with vital runs but the trio will be absent on England duty, as the first Test of the summer begins on Friday at Lord's.

Gordon Muchall, Ottis Gibson and Callum Thorp have been called into the squad and coach Geoff Cook feels that the replacements must step up to the plate when they come into the side to join the remaining experienced Durham stars.

He said: "It was great to have Harmy for the start of the season, Michael Di Venuto has scored 500 runs in three games, and Kyle Coetzer had an impressive first game last week when he made 74.

"With the England internationals missing, we need the support players to come in and punch their weight."

Durham are still among the outsiders to win the Division One title in market yet to develop, with table-topping Yorkshire trading as the 3.3 favourites.

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• County Cricket