Congratulations To Durham - County Champions Once Again

Durham have done us all proud by winning the County Championship for the second season a row, in quite emphatic style. A fantastic achievement for our area and confirmation that our county is the finest cricketing county in England.

Bear in mind that much of this was acheived when the likes of Graham Onions, Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison were on international duty. Bear in mind that this fantastic achievement has happened with weeks of the season to spare.

I remember when I was growing up in County Durham that having a first class county team was a mere pipedream. I remember the journalists of the Southern media mocking us when we made our initial entry to the first class cricketing scene. And now, over a decade later, Durham are the undisputed cricketing champions of the country. Simply tremendous.

The club should also be congratulated for letting everybody in for free over the last couple of days. A great gesture - made even greater by the fantastic weather we have been enjoying over the past few days.

So congratulations to the Durham cricketers. A mighty achievement. It just goes to show, once again, that in the North East our ambitions should be limitless.