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[ppccopener]

with Stokes and Wood already playing for England as bowlers, allrounder in Stokes's case, has Stoneman signed really to improve his England chances?

back-in-the-day you only got noticed in you played down South, now half the team are Yorkies....

and at 29, could he still get a slot opening for England....the guy can play obviously 

[Felix Tito]

Is he actually any good? 7000 runs at 32 isn't exactly breaking the door down for international selection. Lyth for example averages more than 40.

[Alvaro]

He has played the majority of his cricket in Durham, hardly a batting paradise. His recent record is very handy. He's a good player and looking to augment his pension fund, no doubt.

[Manormanic]

He is, to be fair, a decent player - his average might be slightly deceptive because he has only ever played division 1 cricket, and most of it on Riverside pitches that were, shall we say "bowler friendly".  Got to be a money thing though - after all, Surrey have a 2/3 chance of being relegated this season, and playing in division 2 is not going to help his cause at all!

[wcc]

Pretty gutted with this as a Durham fan to be honest.
Regarding his average it is problys down actually been a very average player until he was about 25 years old but Durham stood by him and he came good as hes shown hes scored over 1000 Div 1 runs for the last 3 years, but good luck to him as with Durhams money issues i have no doubt that we couldnt match the contract that Surrey would have offered him.

[rickjames]

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

This means we're staying up in Div 1 right?

[justnotcricket86]

Pretty gutted with this as a Durham fan to be honest.
Regarding his average it is problys down actually been a very average player until he was about 25 years old but Durham stood by him and he came good as hes shown hes scored over 1000 Div 1 runs for the last 3 years, but good luck to him as with Durhams money issues i have no doubt that we couldnt match the contract that Surrey would have offered him.

Taking your 'durham money issues" comment into consideration, do you think they will struggle to hold onto the likes of Stokes, Wood, Borthwick etc?

Glamorgan have got a great player in Mustard for the remainder of the season!

[ppccopener]

Taking your 'durham money issues" comment into consideration, do you think they will struggle to hold onto the likes of Stokes, Wood, Borthwick etc?

Glamorgan have got a great player in Mustard for the remainder of the season!

have to say I wasn't aware of any money issues when I posted about Stoneman. For what it's worth as he's already playing Div 1 I can't see how he will improve his chances at Surrey, so maybe you are all right....money rather than an England spot.

Got to say...opening County batsmen got to be thinking they is more of a chance opening than there has ever been.For years it's been cook,strauss,trott,bell. Now players are coming and going more.

Stokes and Wood wont cost Durham anything while they are still contracted to England i'm pretty sure

[wcc]

Taking your 'durham money issues" comment into consideration, do you think they will struggle to hold onto the likes of Stokes, Wood, Borthwick etc?

Glamorgan have got a great player in Mustard for the remainder of the season!

I can see Borthwick leaving as well if i am honest, we didn't have enough money supposedly to even bring in a replacement overseas when Hastings was ruled out of the summer.
I also heard recently that Mustard did actually want to stay and fight for his place (he had turned down offers from other counties and the start of the season) in all formats and considering Richardson our 4 day keeper has only scored about 250 runs all year. But Durham just couldn't offer him a new contract. So he is off to Gloucestershire (Not Glamorgan  ) for the rest of the season.

[justnotcricket86]

I can see Borthwick leaving as well if i am honest, we didn't have enough money supposedly to even bring in a replacement overseas when Hastings was ruled out of the summer.
I also heard recently that Mustard did actually want to stay and fight for his place (he had turned down offers from other counties and the start of the season) in all formats and considering Richardson our 4 day keeper has only scored about 250 runs all year. But Durham just couldn't offer him a new contract. So he is off to Gloucestershire (Not Glamorgan  ) for the rest of the season.

Oh yeah, of course it's Glamorgan....my bad!

[jjohns]

Did you just make the same mistake twice?

[justnotcricket86]

Yes, yes I did. I think it's time for my meds, doctor.

In case anyone needs any clarification, P. Mustard is not moving on loan to Glamorgan, he's going to Gloucestershire.

[ScottParko]

If Mark Wood doesn't get an England contract there's a good chance Durham will let him go. Jennings who has scored boat loads of runs and Coughlin a good young bowler are still out of contract too! Worrying times up here! We are losing our opening batsman/short form skipper (Stoneman), our stalwart keeper and short form opener (Mustard) and Mr Reliable in the middle order (Muchall), with a good chance still of losing talented bowlers and batsmen!

[ppccopener]

If Mark Wood doesn't get an England contract there's a good chance Durham will let him go. Jennings who has scored boat loads of runs and Coughlin a good young bowler are still out of contract too! Worrying times up here! We are losing our opening batsman/short form skipper (Stoneman), our stalwart keeper and short form opener (Mustard) and Mr Reliable in the middle order (Muchall), with a good chance still of losing talented bowlers and batsmen!

Is the issue the test matches Durham have bid for? recently they have had May matches with second string opposition as opposed to some of the plum fixtures down south?

this has put a hole in the finances as the grounds are not full after the bidding process -a process that is hugely unfair, Glamorgan use public money to host their internationals....

[Felix Tito]

TBH if teams are struggling with financing, the ECB should consider reducing the number of counties. Therefore get rid of the vast array of kolpak players and veterans whom are blocking spots for younger players.