Cricket: Parallel times: Durham's Welsh example

Durham will be hoping their fortunes as new boys on the Championship block will continue to mirror those of the last graduates to first-class status, Glamorgan. In their first five years the Welsh county won 11 Championship matches (one fewer than Durham) and finished bottom of the table twice (once less than Durham). It was only after this spell as something of a laughing stock around the English shires (opponents would book their hotels in Swansea or Cardiff for just two nights) that Glamorgan started to look secure. They never finished bottom in the 1930s and were champions in 1948. If Durham's progress follows the same trajectory, the champagne corks will be popping at Chester-le-Street in 2019, two years before David Boon celebrates his 60th birthday.

Durham

Year P W Position

1992 22 2 18th*

1993 17 2 18th*

1994 17 4 16th*

1995 17 4 17th*

1996 17 0 18th*

Glamorgan

1921 18 2 17th*

1922 22 1 16th*

1923 24 2 16th*

1924 21 5 13th*

1925 26 1 17th*

*Bottom of the Championship

Durham last year became the fourth county since the Second World War to complete a Championship season without a win, following Notts (1967), Glamorgan (1979) and Warwicks (1982).

Northants hold the record for the longest winless streak in the Championship, from May 1935 to May 1939.