Captain Lewis vows to steer a winning course

That's not counting the few games for which Simon John Emmerson Brown did the job after Mike Roseberry resigned in 1996.

While it used to be said it was essential to have three initials to captain Hampshire, this is a first for Durham. But one of them is generally discarded as Lewis is known simply as J J to his mates.

We are not talking plum-in-mouth public school boy here, nor is he a wide boy from Essex, despite supporting West Ham.

Lewis is a level-headed, affable, polite product of King George Vl School, Chelmsford, who is about to embark on the fifth season of a successful Durham career.

He made a century on his debut for Essex at the Oval in 1990, but for the next match had to make way for the return of Graham Gooch and remained on the fringe of the side for six years.

On his debut for Durham he made 210 not out against Oxford University and has been virtually ever-present since.

In terms of Durham appearances - he has played in 64 first-class games for the county - he is the most experienced captain the county have had.

He has scored 3,657 first-class runs for Durham at an average of 34.17, which, overseas players apart, has been bettered only by Wayne Larkins.

Yet he has had something of a roller-coaster time, alternating an average in the 40s with one in the 20s, and he is due a good season this year.

Lewis, who will be 31 next month, enjoyed some success as captain two years ago when David Boon was injured.

It seemed for a while he might succeed Boon for the 2,000 season, but then the first choice, Nick Speak, cemented his place in the side by making a couple of centuries.

Speak duly got the nod, only to be relieved of the captaincy in August last year following a furious row after the defeat at Derby, which wrecked Durham's hopes of Division One survival.

It was too late for Lewis to turn round a sinking team, but he did well enough to be handed the job for this season and among his first tasks on his return a month ago from a winter in South Africa was to make sure there were no hard feelings from Speak.

"Nick has come straight back in and is on top of his game," he said. "He has enjoyed six months in Melbourne and is very positive about the whole thing."

Lewis is also looking forward to working with new coach Martyn Moxon, describing him as "very meticulous."

"We are working very much together but I've been very happy to let Martyn organise pre-season training and nets," he said. "He leaves nothing to chance. If we're having nets he arrives with a plan of who's bowling to whom and in what order. He makes sure he rotates it day by day.

"It's disappointing to be short of match practice, but we have made very good use this week of what dry bits there are on the square.

"We also had two intensive days indoors at Ampleforth, which involved nets and a lot of short, sharp work with a sports scientist. Our conditioning must have been spot on because the physio has had hardly any work.

"We're treating Steve Harmison with kid gloves after his shin problem. He doesn't overwork himself indoors, which is just as well for the batsmen as he can pin them to the back wall.

"He's looking stronger and his action looks better, which seems to be giving him more control."

One thing which Lewis knows he needs to master before the first Championship game against Gloucestershire, starting at the Riverside next Friday, is the exact detail of the clampdown on slow over-rates.

"Points are to be deducted every game," he said. "Our scorer, Brian Hunt, has worked out that if we bowl our overs at the same rate as last season we will lose 17 points, which is effectively a win.

"You can ask the umpires to allow time for injury to a batsman or for drying a wet ball, but we need to be on top of the situation.

"I don't think it will affect our selection by making us include a spinner when conditions are suited to seam. It's more a case of chivvying the lads along. It affects the one-day game as well, which will be interesting in a tight finish when you have to get the field placings right."

Another change in one-day cricket will be the use of white Reader balls instead of Dukes.

"Pinch-hitters have been a waste of time against the moving ball," said Lewis. "The Readers tend to swing less when new, but reverse swing more when they're older, which Neil Killeen can do.

"I know who I want one of my openers to be in one-day cricket, but I haven't decided on the other. It could be me, I don't know yet.

"I also want to get Danny Law in no lower than five or six because he strikes the ball very cleanly."

Law hit successive balls from Killeen for six in the last over to win the match at the Riverside last season for Essex, where he arrived just as Lewis was leaving.

"He's a very exciting signing," said the captain. "No-one at Essex questioned his commitment or his desire. A few counties would have liked to pick him up, but he was very keen to come and play for us, which is a very good sign.

"It was disappointing to lose Melvyn Betts and John Wood, but it's important that we have 20 guys who want to play for Durham.

"I was also disappointed when I got a call to say Simon Katich wasn't coming back. He has had a fantastic season in Australia and we'd all like to see him on the Ashes tour.

"But I'm sure Martin Love will be just the same - very professional and going about things in the right way.

"Everything that worked against us last season with three going down is in our favour this time and we would back ourselves to get into the top three. It would also be nice to get through to the Benson & Hedges quarter-finals and get a home tie, which the club has never had.

"It would be great for me to get some tangible success in my first year. We have a young squad, but it's reasonably experienced. Everyone in the club feels we should be in the first division."

Lewis doesn't want to hear any talk about the curse of the Durham captaincy, but a little good fortune along the way wouldn't go amiss.