Trophy handed to cricket champions

9:41am Tuesday 30th September 2008

IT has taken 16 years and, at a conservative estimate, more than 320,000 overs of first-class cricket, but yesterday, in front of the Don Robson Pavilion at Riverside, the County Championship came to Durham.

A small silver trophy, first awarded in 1890, that has long been viewed as the pinnacle of English cricket. A small silver trophy that confirms the realisation of a dream.

Back in 1992, when Durham made their maiden first-class appearance, the naysayers claimed it would take the best part of two decades for the county to win a game, but when captain Dale Benkenstein raised the Championship trophy above his head in front of more than 500 celebrating members, the history books had been rewritten.

And if cricket wasn't exactly coming home, its most prestigious trophy was certainly coming to a part of the world where the public embrace the sport with a relish and fervour that makes the brevity of Durham's existence appear ridiculous.

"I'm told they were worried that people might not turn up today," said Tony Huzzard, who travelled with his son, Geoff, from North Shields. "But we weren't going to miss this for the world.

"It's not as though five o'clock at the Riverside is a big ask - we got up at two in the morning on Saturday to travel down to Kent (where Durham's Championship victory was confirmed).

"We watched about an hour-and-a-half of cricket, and then we turned around and came back home. People have told us we were mad, but that's what it's all about isn't it? And the whole Durham story's a bit mad anyway."

Not quite as mad as the eight-hour coach ride that transported Durham's players from Canterbury to the North-East on Saturday - a raucous journey that ended with the entire squad celebrating in Durham's finest establishments in the whites they had worn on the field - but if you can't celebrate a County Championship, what can you drink to?

The alcohol continued to flow yesterday, only this time most of it went straight over coach Geoff Cook as bottles of champagne were sprayed left, right and centre.

Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood led most of the spraying, underlining that while their central contracts might lie with England, their hearts undoubtedly belong to Durham.

While overseas players such as Benkenstein, Michael Di Venuto and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have contributed to Durham's success, the county retains a North-Eastern heart.

So while the members were quick to congratulate each and every squad member, a special round of applause was reserved for the schoolchildren of Sacriston Junior School, who had spent the afternoon receiving coaching at Durham's Academy.

They were here to celebrate triumph in the present, but they were also hoping for further success in the future.

That, after all, was the mandate when Durham took their maiden first-class steps a decade-and-a-half ago, and after following up last season's Friends Provident Trophy success with a victory in the County Championship, nobody at Riverside will be resting on their laurels.

Not Cook, who is already planning for next season, nor Benkenstein, who addressed the crowd to claim a trophy double was a realistic target for 2009.

And not the record-playing DJ, who slipped seamlessly from "We are the champions" to "You ain't seen nothing yet".

This has been Durham's season, but it might already be worth making a date in your diary for 12 months time.

* Durham County Council is considering how it can recognise the club's remarkable achievement. A spokesman for the authority said: "We are looking at the most appropriate way to celebrate their success and the recognition they have brought to the county."

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