Paul Collingwood

Paul Collingwood led from the front as Durham restricted Gloucestershire to 266 for 7 before bad light ended play 19 overs early in Bristol

April is here: time for cricket to signal a season of renewal amid the sunshine and the smell of fresh-mown grass

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With a 48-point deficit against their name, Durham have their work cut out in Division Two this year. Their captain knows it's going to be a slog

There is the faintest risk of relegation in the air for Durham and Warwickshire, with the whiff about to become stronger for whichever county finishes on the wrong end of the result here

He knows his side are 'underdogs' against Yorkshire in the T20 semi-final, but he has spent his entire career scrapping and has no intention of stopping yet

Durham shrugged off a week of woe by easing to a four-wicket win with 14 balls to spare against Warwickshire in the Royal London Cup tie at South Northumberland CC in the Newcastle suburb of Gosforth

Mark Stoneman, Durham's highly rated opening batsman, will join Surrey at the end of the season after turning down the offer of a new contract and he could begin an exodus at the financially-troubled county

Its image as an establishment game fits uncomfortably with the impulse to spread T20 cricket to a wider audience. Meanwhile, it needs to become relevant to as many people as possible

Paul Collingwood's Durham side won a grand game against Lancashire at Southport - and loved it so much that when the match was over they did not want to leave

Only a child's wild imagination could have conceived an innings like Kevin Pietersen's 158 against Australia in 2005

Ben Stokes, desperate to prove his fitness for the first Test against Pakistan, got on to the field as Durham 12th man after Paul Collingwood fractured a thumb as a Championship tussle against Yorkshire finished in a draw

Paul Collingwood proved the match-winner for Durham in the NatWest T20 Blast tie against Nottinghamshire at chilly Chester-le-Street

To clinch their third win in four Division One matches this season, Lancashire would need to score 325 runs in 96 overs or fewer, an asking rate of only 3.385 runs per over. They failed.

Paul Collingwood completed his 32nd first-class hundred and Ben Stokes took three wickets in a fine ten-over spell after lunch as Durham drew with Surrey

Jack Burnham scored his maiden first-class hundred at the age of 19 to guide Durham's fortunes at the Kia Oval

There are remarkable similarities between the England side which won the World T20 in 2010 and the one in the final this time

England have bolstered their specialist coaching staff for the Test and limited-overs series in Pakistan and the World T20 with the appointments of Mahela Jayawardene and Paul Collingwood

Paul Collingwood made his List A best score of 132 as Durham got the defence of their Royal London Cup title off to the perfect start with a 54-run win over Northamptonshire