Durham Diary

His two innings between 100 and 200 have been unbeaten, while his 251 against Middlesex at Lord's last year was the first of four double centuries he has made in the last 15 months.

Following his 273 against Hampshire he said: "It was definitely in my mind to try for 300, but we had lost some time to the weather, the last man was in and I felt I had to get there quickly.

"I always make a conscious effort to go on once I get to a hundred. When you are seeing the ball well you might as well take advantage of it and score as many as possible.

"I know I slowed down when I reached my century against Hampshire, but they were bowling quite well at that point and I wasn't prepared to take any risks."

Although skipper Jon Lewis made 210 not out against Oxford University on his Durham debut, the only other player to make a championship double hundred for Durham was John Morris with 204 at Edgbaston in 1994. Unfortunately he was upstaged by a member of the opposition making 297 more.

Morris also had the highest championship score for Durham at Riverside with 163 against Glamorgan in 1998 prior to Love's 273. But while Durham's 515 was their highest at Riverside, their best total on home soil remains 545 for eight declared against Northants at Hartlepool in 1994.

THERE will be a traffic cop on duty in full uniform inside the Riverside ground tomorrow night at the floodlit match against Sussex.

But he certainly won't catch me for speeding as he will be operating the speed gun to measure how fast contestants bowl in the Power Cricket Speed Challenge.

The Press were invited to test their pace in the nets last Friday lunchtime, when visions of getting anywhere near Shoaib Akhtar's world record 100.4mph were quickly shattered.

Durham's marketing director James Bailey claimed to have clocked 72.6 mph, scoffing at groundsman Dave Measor for managing a paltry 53.

Despite passing my half-century and not having cranked my arm over for five years, I expected to come in at around 65. But I almost wrenched my shoulder achieving 57.3, which is slower than Ashley Giles' quicker ball.

Designed to unearth potential fast bowlers for Durham, the Power challenge was launched at yesterday's National League game against Hampshire and there will be a second heat tomorrow before the final is held at the interval.

The winner will earn a trip to the Asia v Rest of the World match organised by Power Cricket at the Amsterdam Arena on October 4-5.

THE floodlit match will also see the launch of the Flick Sportsmatch Floodlit Cup for under 13s, in which all clubs and schools in Durham and Northumberland will be invited to take part. The event starts on September 19 with the finals on November 1 and 8, when the top two from each county will win a portable plastic pitch.

DURHAM are likely to repeat the Northern Proms, which attracted a crowd of just over 2,000 to the Riverside on a Saturday night blessed by good weather. A small profit was made, but that would become serious money if the attendance could be raised to 3,000. Next year it is planned to stage other events either side of the Proms aimed at a different market.

AMONG those keenly awaiting the return of Shoaib Akhtar is Cricket Development Officer Nick Brown, who has almost completed his mission to play one game in all nine leagues in Durham this season.

Nick, 43, undertook the task when he felt he had reached the end of his useful playing life with Gateshead Fell, and is aiming to raise £750 for the Primary Club to help visually impaired young people.

"All the Durham players have been very generous and Shoaib pledged a significant amount of money," he said. "I told him not leave the country, so I'll be glad to see him back."

Having gained permission from the leagues, Nick has so far played second team cricket in seven leagues for Wolviston, Gateshead Fell, Coxhoe, Skelton Castle, Willington, Durham City and Silksworth. He also played for Raby Castle against an Australian touring team called Wattlesprigs and next Saturday will appear for Barningham against Raby in the Darlington and District League. That just leaves a Northumberland and Tyneside Senior League match to fit in next month. His best score has been 67 for Coxhoe, for whom he also took three for 17 bowling "filthy off-spin."

"I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute," he said, "including skying a catch to the bowler and trudging away, only for him to drop it and run me out."

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