WHILE hoping to continue his excellent Twenty20 form with the bat in tonight’s home match against Leicestershire, Durham’s new signing Calum MacLeod is keen to prove he can make an allround contribution.

Despite being under contract to Scotland, MacLeod has joined Durham’s fulltime staff until the end of the season and they will have first call on his services.

While captaining the second team recently, he has been giving his medium pace bowling an airing and is happy to do so after his initial foray into firstclass cricket was ended by a suspect action.

He was released by Warwickshire and said: “It was a shock but as soon as I watched the video I could see there was a problem and the coaches were telling me I had to try to rectify it.

“I tried to work on it but for a while the challenge was more of a mental thing because I was seeing no reward for all the work I was putting in.

“Now I have stopped worrying about the technical side, I just focus on what I can do.”

In five T20 innings so far MacLeod has scored 208 runs and being not out twice gives him an average of 69.3, confirming the impression Paul Collingwood gained of him while coaching Scotland last winter.

“Paul created the right environment for us to be successful,” said MacLeod.

“The chance to keep working with someone of his calibre is something most players would jump at.

“I put pressure on myself and didn’t reach the standards I wanted with Scotland in the CB40 competition, but I went to New Zealand last winter with the focus of just trying to qualify for the World Cup.

“That coincided with working with Paul and he gave me the confidence to transfer my skills from the nets to the middle. He doesn’t over-complicate things – he told me to go out and entertain.

“There is also a challenge now to transfer my skills into four-day cricket. I hope to push for a place at some stage this season, but the batsmen are doing well at the moment.”

Usman Arshad is back in the squad this evening after missing this week’s win against Lancashire through injury, which gave Paul Coughlin the chance to shine on his championship debut.

He is also in the squad and there will be a tough choice to make between the pair for the four-day match at home to Sussex, starting on Sunday.

Mark Wood is likely to be given a few more days to recover from his ankle injury and Graham Onions’ back problem continues to be monitored following a third injection.

After losing their last two T20 matches away to Warwickshire and Worcestershire, Durham need to beat a Leicestershire side who have lost four of their five games.

The club have announced a Superhero theme for the match, with supporters being urged to dress as their favourite caped crusader.

Fans will a chance to win a whole host of prizes if they dress up, with special Hot Seat Prizes on offer throughout the night, including a night’s bed and breakfast at the Marriott Hotel, Gosforth.

Also, a three-night trip to Dubai, courtesy of Emirates, is up for grabs in the Catch Competition during the interval.