Lancastrian boffins claim Durham's cricket success was lucky

Researchers at Salford University, near Manchester, claim second-placed Durham were the luckiest side in cricket's LV County Championship.

The disgruntled Lancastrians have produced a 'shadow' table, taking into account so-called 'lucky factors', like coin toss and time lost through the weather.

Perhaps, not surprisingly, it puts their local side, Lancashire, top, with Durham dropping to sixth.

Professor David Forrest and his PhD student Ron Dorsey studied county championship matches since 1993 to determine the value of the toss and the impact of play lost to rain.

They claim Durham played 14 more full days compared to bottom club Worcestershire, due to less rain disruption, while they believe these factors were decisive in taking the championship to Sussex, instead of Old Trafford.

Their research paper, to be published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, suggests cricket authorities should make rule changes to improve 'fairness' in the league table.

These include removing the coin toss by allowing the away team to choose who bats first, while they also advocate rescheduling matches to feature more matches are played during the usually drier months of July and August.

Prof Forrest said: "Part of sport's appeal is its unpredictability, but if the uncertainty is due to factors outside the field of play then this can damage the game's credibility.

"We're proposing a system minimising these factors, making sure it's the players who get the results and not lady-luck."

But Durham coach Geoff Cook gave their claims short shrift.

"It's nonsense and not really worth commenting on, although I suppose it would be nice if we all could all play in Dubai."

* Durham will celebrate their most successful season, winning the Friends Provident Trophy, the Pro40 Division Two title, and ending as County Championship runners-up, by meeting fans at Chester-le-Street's Civic Heart, on Monday at 1pm, before a civic reception at County Hall, Durham.