DURHAM took a big gamble yesterday by bringing Dale Benkenstein back from injury three months ahead of schedule.
And the South African could now feature in Thursday’s County Championship match at Somerset.
When the limited-overs captain dislocated his shoulder for the second season running at The Oval on May 13 he was told he would need an operation and revealed he was “hoping” to be back in September “if needed”. It hardly sounded optimistic.
But complications caused the scheduled surgery to be cancelled a fortnight ago, and Durham will now seek to postpone it until the end of the season.
That has prompted a rethink, with the medical team who initially advised that “conservative treatment” was not an option deciding it now is. The view is that the time off since sustaining the injury diving in the outfield has allowed it to settle down.
So Benkenstein was part of the Durham second team which played the MCC Young Cricketers in a Second Eleven Trophy match at Brandon yesterday. He made six in a two-wicket win.
“Dale still needs an operation at some stage but it is hoped we can delay it until after the season,” Durham physio Nigel Kent explained. “He will continue to do rehab and modify his diving technique throughout the rest of the season.”
In four-day cricket at least, Durham will probably do their best to “hide” Benkenstein in the field, as they used to when the less-than-agile Ian Blackwell was suffering the shoulder problems which ultimately ended his career.
They could limit Benkenstein’s involvement in the YB40 competition, which they traditionally use to rest key players anyway. Benkenstein dislocated his left shoulder in training almost a year to the day before doing so again versus Surrey. There have been other occurrences inbetween time, but he is so matter-of-fact about them, it is hard to know how many.
Even at The Oval his injury did not stop him finishing the game, batting in the final innings as Durham recorded an important five-wicket win.
Last year’s problem caused him to miss two Championship games and three one-day matches. On his return he was unable to find the form which has made him Durham’s most prolific run-scorer in First-Class cricket. His 2012 tally of 583 First-Class runs was easily his poorest return in eight seasons with the county, though it could be the swinging conditions in which all Durham batsmen struggled played a bigger part than his physical condition.
Although this season’s statistics have not been overwhelming – averaging 29.66 in the longer form of the game – he made important unbeaten half-centuries against Yorkshire and Surrey. The first ought to have set up a win, the second did. In the latter he became the first man to make more than 9,000 First-Class runs for Durham.
The Riversiders’ fixture list has been mercifully light since Benkenstein’s latest injury and their record reasonably good, so it would be harsh to portray the move as a panic measure.
Durham drew their only Championship game since, though that had far more to do with the weather than opponents Middlesex. Since losing his opening game as stand-in 40-over captain, Mark Stoneman has recorded back-to-back wins.
But Stoneman has only played three senior Twenty20 matches in his life, and was due to hand the captaincy to Paul Collingwood in that competition, which begins on June 28, adding to the four-day skipper’s workload.
And if there is a concern about the make-up of Durham’s Championship side it is the lack of top-order experience. Benkenstein was promoted to No.4 partly to address that this year.
Benkenstein, 39 this Sunday and under contract until the end of next season, is a serious contender to replace head coach Geoff Cook on his retirement from playing.
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Article source: http://www.journallive.co.uk/newcastle-sports/north-east-cricket/durham-county-cricket-club/2013/06/04/durham-s-gamble-on-injured-captain-dale-benkenstein-61634-33423681/