Durham’s combination of youth and experience brings instant success in the new professional county era

Durham secured a comfortable win against Essex at a grey and chilly Banks Homes Riverside Stadium to make the perfect start to the new season. A magnificent 93 not out from New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates was more than enough to overcome a lacklustre Essex side who will have been disappointed by their performance following the trophy-winning end to their previous incarnation as Sunrisers in September 2024.

Credit: Durham Cricket

Everything started well for Durham as the new era began with Hollie Armitage winning the toss and inviting Essex to bat on exactly the sort of morning you would expect at Chester-le Street in April: no rain, but certainly no sun and temperatures struggling to reach double figures. 

Durham were missing new recruits Lauren Filer and Emily Windsor, meaning that 17 year old Academy star Grace Thompson was called up for her first appearance in senior cricket. Thompson immediately looked at home on the big stage. As she came into bowl for her first few overs, stood alongside her at mid-off was a player who had played international cricket and scored an international century before Thompson was even born. Suzie Bates, 37 years old, a New Zealand legend and World Cup winner would hand her the ball as she reached the end of her mark each time with a reassuring word and clap of encouragement. In her fourth over, Thompson took the first wicket of the new era for Durham as she dismissed Jo Gardner leg before for 18. The teenager was joyously mobbed by her delighted teammates. Thus the tone for the new era was set: youth and experience combining to bring success to Durham. 

Essex players came and went in quick succession as the morning unfolded. Four more wickets were lost and only 19 runs scored between the 10th and 20th over as the naggingly persistent Phoebe Turner added three more wickets to her impressive record in 50 over cricket whilst Katherine Fraser added pressure with miserly bowling from the other end. Grace Thompson, who had been beating the outside edge all morning, finally struck the edge of Flo Miller, who was spectacularly caught at slip by Abi Glen.

Suddenly, with five wickets down and 30 overs still to come, Essex required a reset and it was provided by Sophia Smale and Jodi Grewcock, who patiently refloated Essex’s innings with some sensible stroke play and solid defence against the threatening spin of Katie Levick and Maddie Villiers. They spent the best part of an hour accumulating four an over and trying to create a total which could be respectable and defendable.

However, Grewcock’s demise in the 34th over, stumped as she walked down the pitch to attempt an expansive shot against Levick further undermined their progress, once again the run rate dropping as Smale and Carr attempted to guide Essex to the end of their 50 over allocation.

Alas, it was a vain attempt. Scoreboard pressure saw first of all Smale stumped in similar fashion to Grewcock and then, as the innings entered its final five overs, Carr hoicked the ball high and almost over Bates at mid-on, but not quite over Bates at mid-on. Within a couple of overs the Essex innings was done, skittled for 177 with more than two overs left. It never felt like a defendable score.

Essex started the defence of their under-par total well. Kate Coppack dismissed Emma Marlow with her fifth ball and Durham needed to stay calm as Essex applied pressure with some tight bowling and energetic fielding. Fortunately for Durham, they had Suzie Bates and Hollie Armitage at the crease, two of the best, most experienced and most unflappable in the business. What followed was a masterclass in moving through the gears. These two gently eased through the powerplay, accelerated gently through the next ten overs and then powered their way to victory with 17 overs to spare.

The only question was whether Bates would be able to manipulate the strike enough to reach a well-deserved century. At one point it looked possible, but Bates clearly spoke to Armitage and said something like “let’s not faff around with getting me a century, let’s just win the game”, which is what duly happened when Armitage cracked the ball through the inner ring in the 33rd over for the winning boundary. 

For Durham, this was a statement victory which shows them to be major contenders in this competition, and done without two of their big summer signings. For Essex, this was a very disappointing performance, which deteriorated significantly as Bates and Armitage took their bowling apart. 

The Durham team management must be absolutely delighted with the acquisition of Bates for the whole season. She offers so much to this team as a player and as a presence amongst their young players. The fact that she will regularly win games for them this season makes Durham seem a very strong tip for a semi-final place in the One Day Cup competition.