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Charlotte Edwards, the England Women’s captain, has said that a new initiative launched to increase opportunities for girls to take up cricket in school can help to provide the next generation of players for the national side.

Alan Gardner26-Apr-2012Charlotte Edwards, the England Women’s captain, has said that a new initiative launched to increase opportunities for girls to take up cricket in school can help to provide the next generation of players for the national side.Edwards is involved as a coach and mentor with Chance to Shine, the programme set up in 2005 by the Cricket Foundation charity to increase participation in cricket among children, and was at Lord’s on Wednesday for the launch of Girls on the Front Foot, which aims to raise £250,000 in support of coaching and awareness for girls’ cricket.”Definitely, the game needs girls coming through and it would be great to have someone who got into cricket that way reach the England team,” Edwards said. “It’s really good for the girls to meet England players at coaching sessions and then they can go and look us up on scorecards afterwards.”Edwards said that the initiative was important to help raise awareness of the game among girls, with several members of the England team combining coaching in schools with their training schedules. The Girls on the Front Foot board features women from business and sport, including Edwards, the ECB’s head of women’s cricket, Clare Connor, Tesco executive director Lucy Neville-Rolfe and Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar.
Since its foundation, over 620,000 girls have participated in clubs run by Chance to Shine, with the number of girls playing cricket in school rising from 25,049 in 2006 to 156,577 in 2011.”I am delighted to be involved with the Chance to Shine girls’ board,” Edwards said. “It is amazing to see this collection of high-powered women come together for such a worthy cause. In my dual role as England captain and Chance to Shine coaching ambassador it is fantastic to go into schools around the country and see girls playing cricket.””I grew up on a potato farm and I’d probably still be there picking potatoes if it wasn’t for cricket. Now it’s so accessible for girls, you don’t have to stumble across a women’s pathway, there’s a very clear pathway for girls wanting to play cricket. But it’s more than that, we’re developing young people here and that’s just as important.”Despite her increased involvement with Chance to Shine, Edwards, 32, has not yet turned her thoughts to retirement and hopes to lead England in regaining the World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka later this year. England are also the Women’s World Cup holders, with the next tournament to be held in India next year. “While I’m still happy with my game, I will definitely continue playing,” Edwards said.

Virat Kohli’s side steamed past Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to No. 3 in the league

The Report by George Binoy11-May-201220 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSteven Smith was in the hot seat, trying to contain a powerful Royal Challengers line-up•AFP

Sourav Ganguly, the under-performing Pune Warriors captain, sat out of the game; Steven Smith took over the leadership; and the hosts made as many as five changes to their XI in an attempt to avert a seventh consecutive defeat. None of it dowsed the powder keg that is the Royal Challengers Bangalore batting line-up, though. Chris Gayle launched half a dozen deliveries into the crowd; Tillakaratne Dilshan anchored the innings and then accelerated it; and even Saurabh Tiwary converted an iffy start into a useful performance. A total of 173 was much too large for Pune Warriors’ misfiring batsmen.The chase was severely damaged in the first over, when Zaheer Khan struck twice, and almost certainly done for in the fourth, when Michael Clarke was dismissed. Warriors were 22 for three. The Royal Challengers bowling has struggled this season – they are the most expensive unit – and tonight’s performance, albeit against a weak opponent, would have lifted them. Nine is the most wickets they’ve taken in an innings this season. Virat Kohli’s side steamed past Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to No. 3 in the league.There had been rain before the toss but the shower after it was the one that delayed the start by an hour. The strong crowd stayed patient, though, and when play finally began, they were thoroughly entertained. By Gayle. He began carefully, playing three consecutive dots in debutant medium-pacer Krishnakant Upadhyay’s first over. Having sussed the rookie, Gayle bookended Upadhyay’s second over with long-arm sixes over extra cover and midwicket.Gayle barely ran. Of his 31 balls, 13 were dots and nine were singles. There were no twos or threes. When he hit the ball along the ground it was brutally hard to the fielders. In the sixth over, Gayle destroyed Bhuveneshwar Kumar with four sixes – straight, midwicket, long-on and long-off. He got to his half-century in 24 balls, his quickest this season. Royal Challengers were 66 for 0 at the time and Dilshan’s contribution was 11 off 13 deliveries.Only Angelo Mathews kept Gayle quiet. After conceding three runs in his first over, Mathews had Gayle caught on the long-on boundary in his second. Mathews would finish with figures of 1 for 14 in three overs.Warriors began to fight after Gayle’s dismissal, the next 27 balls cost only 19 runs and produced Kohli’s wicket. Royal Challengers’ acceleration, however, resumed in the 14th over, when Dilshan and Tiwary, promoted ahead of de Villiers, scored 16. Dilshan then took a hat-trick of fours off Upadhyay.At one point it seemed Tiwary would stagnate and de Villiers might not get to bat. Tiwary, however, began to muscle boundaries and Dilshan’s dismissal for 53 brought de Villiers to the crease. After three quiet balls, he launched the final one of the innings over the straight boundary.Ganguly’s replacement, Mohnish Mishra launched the chase by driving his third ball past mid-off for four. He was trapped lbw by Zaheer Khan with the next. Zaheer then handed Manish Pandey his fourth duck of the season with one that straightened off the pitch from round the wicket and uprooted the off stump. Clarke and Gayle use the same bat-maker but Clarke’s attempt at clearing the boundary ended in deep midwicket’s hands. Warriors were floundering.Robin Uthappa has had an indifferent tournament for someone who takes home $2.1 million a season, but he sparkled today. Unfortunately for Warriors, it was just that – a sparkle. They needed a searing furnace.

The holders Leicestershire fell to their third defeat in a row after Andrew Gale and Phil Jaques powered Yorkshire to a match-winning total

17-Jun-2012
ScorecardAndrew Gale was involved in a record opening stand with Phil Jaques•PA Photos

A record opening stand of 116 between captain Andrew Gale and Phil Jaques set up Yorkshire’s 22-run victory over reigning champions Leicestershire in their Friends Life t20 encounter.
The fine start set Yorkshire up for a total of 170 for 4 after winning the toss and the visitors were dismissed for 148 in reply, Australia international Mitchell Starc claiming the last three wickets in the final over. It was Yorkshire’s first win in the competition this season but it left title-holders Leicestershire still trying to break their duck after three consecutive defeats.Yorkshire’s previous best first-wicket partnership in the competition was also against Leicestershire and Gale was involved on that occasion too, when he and Jacques Rudolph put on 104 together at Grace Road in 2009.Gale led the way this time with a belligerent 70 off only 42 balls with six fours and three sixes, while fellow left-hander Jaques contributed 48 from 41 deliveries. Jonny Bairstow, released from the England squad to play in the match, was soon involved in the action – from the other side of the boundary rope. Jaques launched himself into a straight drive off Matthew Hoggard and Bairstow sprang out of the dug-out to catch the ball as it cleared the line.Gale attacked former Yorkshire paceman Hoggard with two fours and a six in one over and consecutive boundaries for Jaques against Wayne White raced the stand to 52 in 35 balls. It became a century stand off 69 deliveries but it was broken by Rob Taylor who had Jaques taken on the midwicket boundary by Jacques du Toit and Gale followed a couple of overs later when he straight drove Hoggard to Josh Cobb.Hoggard’s return to the attack slowed down Yorkshire but David Miller made sure the total was still a competitive one with an unbeaten 30 off 20 balls.The Foxes made a good start themselves as openers Cobb and Greg Smith added 37 in five overs before the latter fell to an athletic catch by Gary Ballance at mid-off to bring Richard Pyrah a wicket with his fifth ball. Pyrah then struck again in his next over by flinging out a right arm to hold on to a reflex catch that sent back du Toit.Cobb had middled the ball well from the start and he had thumped four fours and two sixes in his 46 before he slipped at the bowler’s end when being sent back and could not regain his ground in time as he was run out.Offspinner Azeem Rafiq got the important wicket of Abdul Razzak with a well-flighted ball which hit the stumps and he struck again to have Matt Boyce caught behind. Ryan Sidebottom returned to spread-eagle Taylor’s stumps with his first delivery and then have Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) caught in his next over, leaving Starc to clean up the tail in dramatic fashion.

Pat Cummins is expected to join last year’s Big Bash League runners-up the Perth Scorchers, who have re-signed the veterans Simon Katich, Michael Hussey and Marcus North

Brydon Coverdale11-Jul-2012Pat Cummins is expected to join last year’s Big Bash League runners-up the Perth Scorchers, who have re-signed the veterans Simon Katich, Michael Hussey and Marcus North. Cummins was part of the Sydney Sixers squad last summer but did not play a game due to his long-term foot injury, and his participation this season will again depend on his fitness and his international duties.Stuart Clark, the general manager of the Sydney Sixers, said on Fox Sports that Cummins would not be part of the Sixers squad this season, and he is believed to be joining the Scorchers. Clark also said that Cummins, whose injury problems continued this month when he was sent home from the ODI tour of England due to a side strain, needed to be handled carefully.”We all have to be on one wavelength with Pat Cummins, because he’s a fine prospect,” Clark said on Fox Sports. “No one is ever questioning that. But the last thing he needs is you telling him to do more weights and [someone else] telling him to do more running. The poor kid is just confused. He needs one solid training programme, probably set by Cricket Australia, and then run with it.”The Scorchers have not confirmed signing Cummins, but they have retained three important batsmen on their roster for next season. North will again captain the side and will be joined by Katich, who has retired from all other cricket in Australia, while Hussey’s appearances for the side will again be dictated by his Australia commitments.”It is great to have the skipper back on board,” Lachlan Stevens, the Scorchers coach, said. “Marcus is one of the most tactically astute players in the game today, and to have him involved in the planning and strategic direction of the team was very important to us.”I’m delighted that the only time we will see Simon Katich at top level cricket this summer it will be under the Perth Scorchers banner. The strength of character and tactical awareness that he provides helped to make us such a competitive side last year. He adds massive value on and off the field and we can’t wait to see him back.”Mike Hussey represents everything that is positive about Western Australian cricket, so to have him as part of the Scorchers line-up was a big priority for us, and we are very pleased that he chose to remain in the orange this season. We may not see Mike day in, day out, but merely having him as part of our squad is a huge benefit to every member of the team.”Daniel Vettori, who will play with the Brisbane Heat, remained the only international signing in the opening stages of the contract window, but Clark confirmed the Sixers were interested in attracting Sunil Narine, the West Indies spinner. Narine was the player of the tournament in this year’s IPL and, depending on West Indies’ schedule in December and January, will be keenly sought after by the BBL sides.”We’re looking at Sunil Narine,” Clark said. “There’s just some conflicting schedule issues with the West Indies Cricket Board. Hopefully we’ll be able to get him across for at least part of the season. If we can then he’ll be a fine prospect for us moving forward. We’ve still got some contract stuff to go, but he’s one player we’re looking at.”In other signings on Wednesday, Nathan Hauritz confirmed he would remain with the Brisbane Heat, and Johan Botha was confirmed as the captain of the Adelaide Strikers.

The absence of Daniel Vettori from New Zealand’s Test squad won’t have a considerable effect on the outcome of the two Tests against India, says Glenn Turner

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2012The absence of left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori from New Zealand’s Test squad won’t have a huge effect on the outcome of the two Tests against India as he wasn’t a primary wicket-taker in his team’s attack, former New Zealand captain Glenn Turner has said. Vettori was ruled out of the Tests with a groin injury that he had picked up on the West Indies tour, where New Zealand lost the Tests and the limited-overs legs comprehensively. The first of the two Tests begins on Thursday in Hyderabad.”Vettori has to bowl too many overs to take his wickets,” Turner told . “This is evidenced by his very high bowling strike rate of 79.6. He is very good at tying up an end, but needs wicket-takers at the other end to win games. His batting is useful, but his position in the order now appears to have settled in at No 7 or 8, positions that are less likely to make a significant difference.”Turner did not, however, feel it would be a cakewalk for India. “If the pitches take considerable turn, New Zealand will struggle. Their batsmen have still demonstrated an inability to bat for long enough periods to make big hundreds. Although India are obviously stronger, like most teams they are not immune from playing to the level of their opposition. Therefore, it would be unwise to write New Zealand off,” Turner said.Turner indicated New Zealand wouldn’t be disadvantaged due to the lack of experience in their squad and the demoralising tour of the West Indies. “Experience can be overestimated when applied to both individuals and the assistance other current players are perceived to be able to pass on.”I have little faith in the accuracy of making assumptions about collective mindsets (after the West indies tour). What I would say though, is that if individuals don’t have good enough skills, they don’t have genuine belief in their game, and all the positive talk is just mindless bluff.”

Jeetan Patel, the New Zealand offspinner, has said his side can ‘fight’ and come back in the Hyderabad Test

Abhishek Purohit in Hyderabad24-Aug-2012Jeetan Patel, the New Zealand offspinner, has said his side can “fight” and come back in the Hyderabad Test despite needing another 133 runs to avoid the follow-on with all the specialist batsmen dismissed.”We have got the opportunity tomorrow,” Jeetan said. “Face the music, and fight – what we know the best. The best thing about the Kiwi cricketers is we know how to fight. We have been in a lot of situations where we had to fight. Tomorrow is a good chance for the guys to get back in.”While Jeetan was hopeful of a comeback, R Ashwin, his India counterpart, said the home side would have an eye on enforcing the follow-on if New Zealand were to get dismissed early tomorrow.”With respect to how the wicket is behaving and it being a little bit cloudy, I think we should be looking to bowl twice and get the job done,” Ashwin said.The pitch did not deteriorate much on the second day but there was a lot of bounce and some turn for the India spinners. Patel said New Zealand were expecting the pitch to behave the way it did. “I think the wicket has changed a little bit. But it’s still slow and low with the seamers. It is taking more turn, probably a little more than we expected, such as an under-prepared wicket, and we expected that.”Despite knowing that, New Zealand could not handle the Indian spinners, losing Martin Guptill to Ashwin’s first delivery and Brendon McCullum to Pragyan Ojha’s third ball. Ashwin and Ojha claimed all five New Zealand wickets to fall today. “It is disappointing. It’s as simple as that,” Jeetan said. “They bowled some good balls and we nicked them. That is what happens in cricket. It’s tough. It was always going to be a hard tour for us bowling first up on a wicket that does not help you.”Not that Jeetan did badly when he bowled. India usually target the opposition spinner, but Jeetan was difficult to get away, and ended with 4 for 100 in 41 overs. Bowling to a 6-3 on-side field right through, he restricted run-scoring opportunities, and three of his four wickets came when batsmen tried to hit out. With Daniel Vettori being New Zealand’s lead spinner, this is only Jeetan’s 14th Test since making his debut in 2006, and he spoke about making the most whenever he got the chance.”There aren’t too many opportunities when I get to play Test cricket, so when I do, I got to put my hand up. I want to contribute and get wins for us. Obviously, getting a four-for is nice but I will have to get more than that to get us over the line.”Jeetan said he had a made a few adjustments, both technical and mental, and was now enjoying his game more. “A couple of years ago, I made a couple of changes to my action and my mental approach to the game is different now. I’m trying to enjoy a lot more the moments that I play as opposed to looking at it as if it is my last moment. That sort of mental attitude has put me in the forefront of what’s happening rather than what has happened. Getting an opportunity in county cricket [for Warwickshire] was very good for me. I needed four months of just bowling as many overs as I could.”

Yorkshire have won the race to sign Jack Brooks from Northamptonshire on a three-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2012Yorkshire have won the race to sign Jack Brooks from Northamptonshire on a three-year contract.Brooks, 28, who did not make his first-class debut until 2009, has emerged as one of the most accomplished seamers in the county game over the last couple of seasons and has been courted by several clubs for more than a year. Yorkshire, who won promotion back to Division One of the Championship by finishing second in Division Two in 2012, had made no secret of their desire to sign extra bowlers and had also spoken to James Harris before he signed for Middlesex.While Brooks is leaving Northamptonshire with a view to furthering his ambition to play international cricket, it may well prove that he is a perfect county signing: a man pushing for England recognition but who may fall just short of the international side. He claimed 43 Championship wickets at an average of 21.90 in 2011 and 23 at 35.69 in 2012. His first-class career bowling average is 28.95 though his List A record – he has claimed only 19 List A wickets at an average of 40 – underlines his inexperience.Brooks was not out of contract at Northamptonshire, but had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave if he requested it.Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “We are really pleased to have acquired Jack’s services. We’ve been looking to strengthen our squad to challenge in the First Division County Championship in 2013 and believe that Jack brings a great deal of quality to our existing seam attack.”Brooks said: “I’m absolutely elated to be joining Yorkshire who are one of the biggest clubs in the country. They’ve shown a lot of interest in me over the last couple of years and it was ultimately too difficult to turn down. I want to be part of a successful young side that has been built at Headingley. Yorkshire enjoyed great success in 2012 and will certainly be challenging again next summer.”I want to improve as a cricketer and believe that Yorkshire can help me do that. I’ve been at Northamptonshire for four enjoyable seasons and they have been excellent with me. I joined them from the amateur game, have left behind some very good friends there and wish them all the best in the future. This move has been a cricket decision. I want to further my England aspirations and am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

Angelo Mathews has succeeded Mahela Jayawardene as Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain.

Sa'adi Thawfeeq24-Oct-2012Angelo Mathews has been appointed Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain for a period of one year starting with the Twenty20 against New Zealand at Pallekele on October 30. The 25-year-old allrounder succeeds Mahela Jayawardene, who quit the Twenty20 captaincy after the World Twenty20 final.”We are giving Mathews a free hand to captain the T20 side for one year, after which we will review his performance,” chief selector Ashantha de Mel said.Mathews has been vice-captain since July last year, and is the most obvious candidate to be Sri Lanka’s next captain in all forms. His elevation to the T20 captaincy is an indication that he remains the frontrunner for the Test and ODI captaincy.The selectors may also have to name a new Test and ODI captain as early as February next year, with Jayawardene set to reassess his role as captain after Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia. Jayawardene took the reins from Tillakaratne Dilshan in January, and has seen himself as a caretaker captain in that time, holding the position only until a younger team member is ready to lead.Fast bowler Lasith Malinga has been named vice-captain, also for a one-year term.New Zealand’s tour to Sri Lanka includes two Tests and five one dayers, in addition to the one-off Twenty20.

After watching India bat through 160 overs, England were plunged into huge trouble in the closing stages of the second day as they lost three late wickets to close on 41 for 3 in reply to the hosts’ imposing 521 for 8 dec

The Report by David Hopps16-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball by ball detailsFile photo: On day two in Ahmedabad, Cheteshwar Pujara made his first Test double hundred (ESPNcricinfo is not carrying live pictures due to curbs on the media)•Associated Press

After the certainty of Cheteshwar Pujara’s unbeaten double century for India, England’s fallibility against spin bowling was even more painful for them to bear. India have plotted turning pitches, they opened the bowling with a spinner and in 18 overs of gathering mayhem struck three times in the closing phase of the second day. Initial evidence at least suggests that England’s Asian nightmare is about to continue.One of those three wickets was a nightwatchman – Jimmy Anderson, who prodded the left-arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha to short leg – but that was small consolation for England. Nick Compton batted reasonably securely on debut until R Ashwin, who had opened the bowling, found sharp turn to bowl him through the gate. Jonathan Trott also fell to Ashwin for a fourth-ball duck, a cast-iron push forward and another catch at short leg off bat and pad.What a contrast this was with what had passed earlier. England knew little of Pujara before the series: a bit of a recce in a warm-up match, a few shots watched on a laptop, a provisional theory or two about how best to get him out and a worried expression or two from statisticians unable to deliver megabytes of data.England know lots more about Pujara now. When India declared, to leave England 18 overs before the close of the second day, Pujara had batted in accomplished fashion for more eight-and-a-half hours. But they still do not have much idea how to get him out. Not on low, ponderous surfaces like this, at any rate.When Jimmy Anderson took the first wicket by an England seamer, in the 158th over, there was an emotional argument for throwing the laptops in the skip, but England’s management stared into them with the staunch, glassy-eyed futility of a touring party under enormous pressure.The scorecard showed them that Graeme Swann, valiantly bearing an onerous responsibility as England’s only specialist spinner, had maintained an immaculate line, bowling in traditional offspinner’s style, to finish with 5 for 144. Swann added one more wicket on the second day, bowling MS Dhoni behind his legs, a deflection off a glove as he tried to sweep.Pujara’s progress will have had the connoisseurs purring. He played in stately and composed manner, producing a masterpiece of strategic thinking. Rahul Dravid has retired to England’s relief and they have walked straight into another India batsman with an insatiable appetite for batting. It is understandable how to an Indian eye he might occasionally resemble VVS Laxman, but his mindset is pure Dravid. He bats more elegantly but, like Dravid, has no need for flourish or frippery. The man himself, looking on from the commentary box, could not fail to be mightily impressed.

Smart stats

• Cheteshwar Pujara’s 206 is his highest Test score surpassing the 159 he made against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 2012. It is also the first double-century for India against England since Rahul Dravid’s 217 at The Oval in 2002.

• India’s total of 521 is their tenth 500-plus total against England overall and their fourth against England in home Tests. The previous 500-plus total at home came in Mumbai in 1993.

• The 130-run stand between Pujara and Yuvraj Singh is the fifth-highest fifth-wicket stand in Tests in Ahmedabad.

• R Ashwin is now the joint fourth-fastest bowler to reach the 50-wicket mark in Tests (nine Tests) and the fastest Indian bowler to reach the mark going past Anil Kumble (ten Tests).

• Graeme Swann’s five-wicket haul is his fifth in the subcontinent. His tally of 58 wickets in ten Tests is the second-highest for an England spinner in the subcontinent.

Swann apart, for England there was no encouragement. The ball refused to deviate, in the air or off the ground, for a hard-pressed seam attack as India’s first innings moved inexorably forward. After the Sehwag-fuelled start on the first day, India ground on, their rate slowing. By the declaration, they had added a further 198 at 2.82 runs per over. It was a day in which India’s domination was not expressed noisily but seeped into England’s consciousness.Pujara had rounded off the first day by driving Jimmy Anderson crisply through mid-off for four, a satisfying finale, but one which left him on 98 not out. England sensed an opportunity.Stuart Broad allowed him a comfortable leg-side single to move to 99, and hammed up a vociferous lbw appeal for a ball pitching outside leg; Swann bowled an intelligent maiden. But he picked off another single in Broad’s next over to reach his second Test hundred and celebrated with a quiet air of contentment. When he later reached 200 by steering Anderson past gully, the crowd were ecstatic at the success of one of Gujurat’s own, but Pujara struck you as the sort of level-headed man who does not dance easily in company.His innings, characterised by subtle placement and a sober mind, was a model of restraint and orthodoxy. How England must regret Anderson’s inexplicable misjudgement when Pujara was 8, dashing forward too far at mid-on as he misjudged the flight of Pujara’s leading edge against Tim Bresnan. The decline in England’s fielding has been marked for some time and, as Anderson showed again, it is afflicting both the best and the worst.The most romantic story of all failed to materialise. Yuvraj Singh made a successful return to Test cricket after treatment for cancer, but there was no comeback century, that hope ending when he was unhinged by a groin-high full toss which he whacked obligingly down to long on in the fourth over of the afternoon. Patel had the good grace to look sheepish.Yuvraj entertained, though. His skip down the pitch to strike Swann straight for six was the shot of the morning and was followed by a sweep that fell short of six by inches. Fifteen came from the over; if India broke Swann, England really were in trouble. They never did, but Yuvraj, as a left-hander, had an appetite for Patel, an inconsequential second spinner. His place at No. 6 is justified by his adroitness against spin but, in this Test, his own left-arm slows look slightly round-arm and unthreatening.

David Harker, chief executive at Durham, will step down from his role in May to pursue a private business venture.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2012David Harker, chief executive at Durham, will step down from his role in May to pursue a private business venture. He will continue as a non-executive director.Harker has worked at Durham throughout their transformation from fledgling first-class county into one of the leading clubs in the country. He initially joined as a financial controller in 1991 and became chief executive in 1999.A local-born businessman, Harker has overseen the development, and rebranding, of Chester-le-Street into an international venue, securing a first Ashes Test next summer. Under Harker’s watch, Durham secured their first major trophy by winning the Friends Provident Trophy in 2007 and back-to-back County Championship titles in 2008 and 2009.But the lure of a new business venture has proved too good an opportunity for Harker to pass up. “I have enjoyed a fantastic 20 years with Durham,” he said. “The club has changed beyond recognition since I joined the team, and it’s a real honour to have played a part in the fantastic achievements made here.”But with the Ashes secured in 2013 – something we could once have scarcely imagined happening in Durham – and a very strong and committed management team now on board, I had been thinking that the coming year may be the one in which I looked for a new challenge.”Of course, whatever you achieve, there is always the temptation to stay on and reach the next goal and the next one after that – which explains why I have been here for such a long time – but it does feel like now is the time to step aside and pass on the reins to someone else.”Harker leaves considerable boots to fill and as such, Clive Leach, Durham chairman, said there will be no rush to find a replacement. “David has made a significant contribution to the club during the course of his career and we’ll now be taking stock and ensuring that we make the decision that is right for the long term future of the club.”We are very sorry to see David go,” Leach said. “He has been so good for the club and has helped to take it from the bottom – both as a business and sports team – to the top. Durham is now an organisation that is recognised on a national and international stage and this is, in no small part, down to the hard work of David and his management team.”