Northamptonshire v Durham CCC Preview

Bridge in squad
By Jon Steer
June 15 2005

Liam Plunkett and Graham Bridge are added to the eleven that beat Essex last week as Durham travel to Northampton. Plunkett missed last weeks game with a heel injury and is likely to replace Mark Turner. Northamptonshire are still looking for their first championship win of the season.

The match is unlikely to start until after lunch today due to rain, but the forecast for the remaining days is much better. Both teams have added an extra spinner to their squads - Durham go for Graham Bridge while Northants add Monty Panesar to the eleven that drew with Lancashire last week.

Plunkett's return will be a boost to Durham, although it will probably mean that Mark Turner will miss out after making his debut against Essex. Durham's bowling attack will be made up by Ashley Noffke, Mark Davies, Liam Plunkett and one of Turner, Killeen and Bridge. Mark Davies' success in the Essex match took him to the top of the championship averages having taken 31 wickets at 13.9 each.

Last season Davies was the first player to take 50 wickets in the championship and topped the averages half way through the season when a back injury prevented him from playing for the remainder of the season.

Durham's batting line up will be unchanged from the Essex match. Nicky Peng keeps his place ahead of Gary Pratt, probably due to Peng's move to the openers position which allows Nathan Astle to take a more familiar middle order role.