Chester-Le-Steeet, England: Durham won its third English county championship in six years on Thursday, regaining the title on its home ground by beating Nottinghamshire by eight wickets.
The cash-strapped north-east side captained by former England allrounder Paul Collingwood and containing current internationals Graham Onions and Ben Stokes dodged the showers to score the 62 runs it needed for victory in Chester-le-Street, which ensured the team cannot be caught by second-place Yorkshire with one match remaining.
Durham, which won the league title in 2008 and ‘09, did it the hard way this season, deciding not to employ an overseas player and starting off with a 2.5-point penalty for breaching salary-cap regulations. Its coach, Geoff Cook, then suffered a heart attack in June, forcing a coaching reshuffle.
Stokes says “we did it for Geoff.”
