IMPROVEMENT is essential for Durham this season, otherwise heads will surely roll under the chairmanship of Clive Leach.

It was too late for the former television executive to effect significant change when he took over halfway through last season. But having flown in the face of the Durham ethos by recruiting solely from overseas, he will expect results to keep the natives happy.

The previous winter's capture of Jamaica captain Gareth Breese has been followed by the signing of ex-Natal skipper Dale Benkenstein, and either of them could conceivably take over the reins when new captain Mike Hussey and vice-captain Paul Collingwood are away on international one-day duty.

The official overseas men are Hussey and Queensland seamer Ashley Noffke, whose two seasons with Middlesex were cut short by a back problem, and now a different back injury has ruled him out for the first six weeks of the season.

Coupled with the temporary loss of their new skipper, this is another unwelcome kick in the teeth for Durham following their dreadful luck with overseas men last year.

Five overseas bowlers totalled 19 championship wickets at 43.9, culminating in Shaun Tait taking none for 176 in 18 overs, which included 26 no-balls.

The work Durham put in to sort out his run-up has paid huge dividends as he has been the second highest wicket-taker in the Pura Cup, taking 65 wickets at 20.16 in ten matches for South Australia and earning selection for the Ashes squad.

Not wishing to be left in the wake of the bandwagon which has seen counties hoovering up any fringe overseas men who happen to be eligible, Durham have also signed Western Australia swing bowler Callum Thorp.

At 30, Thorp, who has British parents, has played only six first-class matches and none at all this winter, but he is highly recommended by Hussey, who believes he will do well in English conditions.

Thorp is something of a mystery as he was at the Australian Academy two years ago, when he was four years older than anyone else, but he has just come from a season of Grade cricket with Wanneroo.

That would suggest he is no better than some of those Durham released 18 months ago, such as Nicky Hatch, who has also played Grade cricket this winter, and Ian Hunter, now with Derbyshire. But we shall see.

Coach Martyn Moxon is confident he has the best squad of his four years in charge, saying: "I'm delighted with the signings and if the young players kick on as we believe they should we are in for an exciting summer.

"In the last two years it has been disappointing that the youngsters have not learned from their experiences as much as we would have liked.

"We have worked hard to get them to take notice of their performances and evaluate the way they go about the game.

"We have tried before to get the right balance of youth and experience but it has never quite happened. But with Hussey, Benkenstein and Collingwood we will have a lot of nous in the dressing room, and we've already seen the value of that on our pre-season tour.

"It's much easier for people to learn from seeing how proven performers go about things than from us talking about it. We missed Vince Wells in that respect last season."

Moxon also hopes Durham will feel the benefits of having used their own indoor school all winter.

Several players have been abroad, with Gordon Muchall, Mark Davies and Kyle Coetzer playing in Perth, and Graham Onions and Mark Turner in Port Elizabeth.

Gary Pratt and Nicky Peng stayed behind and Moxon has been working towards developing them as potential opening partners for Hussey. It could be the only way for one or the other to get in the championship side, at least until Collingwood is unavailable.

Moxon insists that least season's form, as much as tour form, will count in selection, so Muchall is guaranteed a place, as is Player of the Year Davies and Breese, who played a huge part in the two championship wins at Taunton and Scarborough.

The fact that Breese's off-spin was good enough for a ten-wicket match haul at Scarborough will probably mean left-armer Graeme Bridge has to wait until two spinners are deemed necessary on drier pitches.

Both Benkenstein and Hussey bowl a bit of medium pace, and with Collingwood (right) also contributing with the ball it does not bode well for all-rounder Gavin Hamilton, who is still desperate to prove himself again after his rehabilitation was cruelly interrupted by injury last season.

Phil Mustard's exciting potential with the bat saw him take over late last season from Andrew Pratt and in terms of runs he narrowly shaded it on tour.

The absence of Noffke will do no harm to Liam Plunkett's early season chances, and his batting also adds to the impression that Durham have more all-round strength than ever before.

Pre-season excitement last year revolved around the anticipated early arrivals of Herschelle Gibbs and Shoaib Akhtar, but Gibbs never appeared and when Shoaib finally arrived Durham quickly wished he hadn't.

It all contributed to a poor start, but the omens are better this time and they will look even brighter if a first championship win against Leicestershire is achieved.