LAST winter, Shane Warne successfully unsettled Paul Collingwood by pouring scorn on his recognition from the Queen. MBE, according to arguably the greatest spin bowler of all time, stood for Must Be Embarrassing.

This weekend, though, as Durham claimed their maiden first-class trophy by trouncing a Warne-led Hampshire at Lord's, Collingwood extracted his revenge.

When it comes to the all-rounder's county in this season's Friends Provident Trophy, MBE has stood for Must Beat Everyone.

Fifteen years and four months after Durham played their inaugural first-class fixture at The Parks, Collingwood was at the heart of the action as they cemented their status at the very top of the English game.

And while others might have contributed more to this weekend's 125-run win over a Hampshire side who were outclassed from the moment Phil Mustard hoisted the sixth ball of the match over gully, none have done more to raise Durham's profile and standards than the Shotley Bridge-born all-rounder.

He was there in the county's youth team when first-class status was achieved in 1991. He was at Riverside in 2002 to become the first Durham player to represent England on the county's home ground, and was back five years later to be confirmed as the first Durham player to captain his country.

Born and bred in County Durham, the 31-year-old has become the standard-bearer for his county's twin aspirations of international recognition and domestic success. Yesterday, after the weather had forced his side to wait an extra day for confirmation of their success, he also became the voice-piece for an outpouring of regional pride.

"This is what it's all about, success and bringing trophies back to the North-East," said Collingwood, who was forced to curtail his celebrations yesterday afternoon in order to link up with the England squad ahead of tomorrow's opening one-day international with India.

"We've been going for 15 years now, but this is early days to be getting success like this.

"For a new county to have progressed so much is remarkable. It's great for the area and to go back with a trophy means a lot to everybody - to the players and to the supporters.

"The support on Saturday was phenomenal, and this is great for all the people who have put their heart and soul into building this club into what it is today."

Listening to some southern-based observers over the weekend, however, you would have thought that Durham had become an outreach branch of the United Nations. The presence of the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ottis Gibson and Michael Di Venuto was enough to lead some to conclude that the North-East had become an outpost for cricketing mercenaries. Have bat will travel - preferably to Chester-le-Street.

In fact, Durham's one-day success is a triumph for blending home-grown talent with established and enthusiastic external influences.

Of the 11 players that started this weekend's final, five - Collingwood (Shotley Bridge), Neil Killeen (Annfield Plain), Mustard (Sunderland), Graham Onions (Gateshead) and Liam Plunkett (Middlesbrough) - are natives of the North-East.

Not quite Celtic's European Cup winners - all 11 of whom were born within 20 minutes of Parkhead - but throw in the injured Steve Harmison (Ashington) and you have a core of local talent that is all too rare in the modern game.

While other counties seek to forge a team from a range of disparate parts, Durham's North-Eastern core lends the county a crucial advantage when it comes to fostering unity and spirit.

It accounts for Harmison's willingness to blend into the background on yesterday's presentation podium, and explains Collingwood's desperation to return to his roots whenever a packed international schedule allows.

Provided Durham's overseas players buy into the 'close-knit club' ethos - and in the likes of Gibson, Di Venuto and skipper Dale Benkenstein, Geoff Cook has recruited cricketers willing to embrace the nuances of sporting life in the region - the North-Easterners will begin every game benefiting from the advantages of playing as a team.

There is no room for stars, even ones as bright and successful as Collingwood and Harmison, and, perhaps predictably, the most striking thing about this weekend's win was the number of players that contributed to it.

Gibson was rightly named man of the match after his wicket-taking heroics at the start of the Hamsphire innings, but Mustard, Chanderpaul, Benkenstein and Kyle Coetzer all had claims on the award after impressing with the bat, and Collingwood's three wickets meant he could have not done much more with the ball.

"It was a team victory," admitted Collingwood. "The Hampshire side had a lot of stars in it, but we were magnificent."

He is far too tactful to say it, but the England one-day skipper seemed to be acknowledging that Hampshire played like a group of individuals.

There was none of the mutual support that peppered the Durham performance, and little of the commitment and purpose that carried the North-Easterners to the biggest win of their history.

Even Warne, Hampshire's talisman, was found wanting. While Collingwood claimed three wickets, the Australian ended with none and, at the age of 37, time could finally be catching up with one of all-time greats.

Whisper it, but when it comes to Warne's career, he could now be due for an honour of his own. As Durham's batsmen have shown, perhaps MBE also stands for Might Be Ending.