IT all started with Sven Koenig, continuing with Mohammad Ali and Neil Carter to reach a coruscating climax with Craig Spearman.

These are the imports who have devastated Durham's home-grown policy this season. All are 27 or 28 and are never going to play for England, and with the possible exception of Spearman they are not going to put extra bums on seats.

But under EU employment law nothing can be done to stop short-sighted counties from bringing in these imports at the expense of people like Sir Len Hutton's grandson.

When Durham were at Lord's, a journalist who spoke to Ben Hutton discovered that the Durham University graduate was most disgruntled about being kept out of the team by Koenig. And why wouldn't he be after scoring a century against Durham at Lord's last season and averaging 34.10 in the championship?

Koenig, a South African with an Italian mother, scored 100 on his Middlesex debut at the Riverside. The mysterious Syed Mohammad Ali Bukhari, a Pakistani with an English wife, thrashed a swift 50 at Derby then took five wickets in the match and broke Jimmy Daley's finger.

Carter, a South African with a Scottish mother, took five for 31 then smashed 23 off one over as Durham were humbled in the National League at Edgbaston.

And finally came the 75-ball century in the C & G Trophy on Wednesday from Spearman, a former New Zealand Test player with a Welsh mother.

Derbyshire have gone from the bottom to the top of Division Two this season with two Tasmanians (di Venuto and Bassano) plus a South African (Gait) in their top four and Ali bolstering an attack in which Dominic Cork and Kevin Dean provide the only successful home-grown input.

NOT content with importing people with EU passports, all the counties except Durham and Warwickshire voted for two overseas players next season.

But Durham have found an ally in their original first-class captain, David Graveney, who has requested an audience with all county chairmen over this issue.

As chairman of selectors, Graveney obviously wants to see the counties producing players for England, but for the purposes of these talks he is donning his other hat as secretary of the Professional Cricketers' Association.

The PCA are obviously worried about the threat to their members and feel they have not been given a proper hearing on this issue.

DURHAM'S PCA representative this season, succeeding Martin Speight, is Neil Killeen, who last week became the first Durham player to reach 100 wickets in the one-day league.

Next comes Nicky Phillips, who has been unable to add to his 70 scalps because of injury this season and was left out yesterday after his mauling by Spearman.

Of those who have taken more than 15 wickets in this form of cricket for Durham, comfortably the best average belongs to Mark Davies with 18 at 16.44 prior to yesterday. He also has the best economy rate at fractionally below four an over. This compares favourably even with Ian Botham, whose economy rate was 4.3.

Killeen's two wickets yesterday made him the joint leading wicket-taker in the National League division one this season with 12, alongside Shaun Pollock.tional League division one this season with ten, two behind Shaun Pollock.

IT will be interesting to see how much cricket Paul Colingwood plays with England's one-day squad over the next three weeks.

After missing three weeks through a knee injury, his lack of action might count against him as he competes for a place with the in-form Ronnie Irani.

With a top six of Trescothick, Knight or Vaughan, Hussain, Thorpe, Flintoff and Stewart, England can then add an all-rounder and four bowlers.

If they reach the final and Collingwood is unlikely to feature, Durham will surely ask for him to be released for their match against Derbyshire at Darlington.

FURTHER to my observations two weeks ago about inaccuracies in other local newspapers, it was reported in one of them yesterday that Simon Katich would be keen to "put one over" his former club.

Those of you wise enough to rely on The Northern Echo for your Durham cricket news would have read in this space three weeks ago that Katich's stint as Darren Lehmann's deputy would end two days before yesterday's clash.

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