Durham on the up - Benkenstein

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Veteran batsman Dale Benkenstein was thrilled with the progress Durham showed this year following a disappointing season in 2010

Dale Benkenstein was not overly disappointed Durham missed out on major honours this season because he believes the side's progress is proof they are on the right track for next year and beyond.

After winning the LV= County Championship in 2008 and 2009, Durham were decidedly mediocre last year, but under Phil Mustard’s and Benkenstein’s leadership, they have been competitive across all three formats this term.

They finished third in the LV= County Championship and reached the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40 as well as the last eight of the Friends Life t20.

Durham’s return to prominence coincided with Benkenstein coming to the fore in their middle order after he – by his own admission – underperformed with the bat in 2010. The 37-year-old struck 1,928 runs in all competitions and it was no surprise when he was named as the club’s player of the year this week.

He told ecb.co.uk: “It is a credit to me. It’s satisfying to have done well and to have had a pretty big part in getting the side back on track.

“It’s been a hell of an improvement from last year. We set out to do it as a team and every single guy lifted their game. That showed in the results.

“The standard we showed this year is definitely where we want to be. It’s enough to know that we didn’t let that spiral from last year continue and we were able to lift ourselves up and play some good cricket again.

“That is the satisfying thing for not only the players but the club as well - that we were able to turn it around.

“That’s where we want to be. We want to be challenging for championships and finals and that’s hopefully where we can stay for the next couple of years.”

Nevertheless, Benkenstein, who captained Durham from 2006 until 2008 and this year led the side in the limited-overs formats, with Mustard taking on the role in the championship, knows there is room for further improvement.

Benkenstein contributed 1,928 runs in all forms this year, in the process becoming Durham's all-time leading run-scorer in first-class cricket

The Zimbabwe-born right-hander thought the split captaincy enabled Durham to flourish but he was frustrated with their performances in the knockout stages when they lost to Somerset in the CB40 and Hampshire in the FLt20.

“I really did enjoy it. Doing everything is a man-sized job, especially with the 16 Twenty20 games now. To do the whole thing would probably be a bit much for me,” he said.

“But I think it worked quite well having the split captaincy and I enjoyed having an influence on team selections and team plans, but it was disappointing when we got to be where we wanted to be and we didn’t play as well as we had been.

“I don’t mind getting beaten by better sides but we just didn’t play well and that was pretty disappointing.”

Durham were also favourites to win the championship at the halfway point of the season but a run of three defeats in four matches saw them lose ground to eventual champions Lancashire and runners-up Warwickshire.

Benkenstein said: “We lost a bit of momentum in the middle (of the season) while we were playing Twenty20 for a little while. Those few games where we lost where we could have got a draw, or we got rained off when we could have won - those things make a difference.“

It has been a season to remember for Benkenstein, though, as he became Durham’s all-time leading first-class run-scorer in June, surpassing the previous record of 7,854 held by Jon Lewis.

Benkenstein, who played 23 one-day internationals for South Africa between 1998 and 2002, was humbled with the achievement.

“This is the only cricket that I know the feeling of. I don’t think I’m going to ever play international cricket again,” he said.

Sharing the captaincy with Phil Mustard was a sensible decision, according to Benkenstein, who said: "Doing everything is a man-sized job."

“You go out and try and win every match and you try and have a good season and I think these things just seem come along. I didn’t really set myself to become the leading run-scorer of Durham but it’s nice to have something to show for the efforts.”

Benkenstein is in the twilight of his career but, after recapturing his best form this season, he is happy to prolong his stay at Durham for as long as possible – provided he is still playing his part.

“I have a year left (on my contract). I have to meet with the chief executive in the next few days but I’ll obviously play as long as I’m contributing,” he said.

“I love playing and I feel like I’ve got quite a lot to offer. There’s no part of me that wants to give up in the near future anyway."

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