(Reuters) – Durham clinched the English County Championship title with an eight-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, their 10th win of a season they started with a points penalty.
Opener Mark Stoneman scored the winning boundary to secure Durham’s third title in six years after successive triumphs in 2008 and 2009.
Durham, bottom of the Division One table in July last year, started the season with a 2.5-point penalty as punishment for breaking salary cap rules. In mid-June, head coach Geoff Cook suffered a major heart attack while jogging but surprised his players by returning to the team last month.
“It is just fantastic that he came through that and I know every single man in that dressing-room was doing it for Geoff,” captain and former England batsman Paul Collingwood told Sky Sports.