Rimmington signing begins Durham fightback

Durham have signed the experienced Australian pace bowler Nathan Rimmington who will feature across all three formats as the club begins to chart a recovery from a host of departure.

Rimmington, a renowned T20 death bowler who featured for the Melbourne Renegades in last year’s Australian Big Bash League, will be well beyond his 35th birthday before he takes up a deal with Durham which will take him until at least the close of the 2019 season.

He will bring a wealth of limited-over and red ball experience and offer an additional strike option in the Specsavers County Championship, although a first-class average slightly over 30 suggests he is unlikely to offer a miracle cure for a county that was relegated into Division Two because of financial irregularities last year..

Rimmington said: “I’m incredibly motivated to see Durham do well and I feel like I have a lot to offer in terms of experience and leadership. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the UK and believe the conditions at Emirates Riverside will suit me.”

Durham’s chairman Sir Ian Botham, banged the drum determinedly as Durham began to fight back from a year that has seen them lose Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick, Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions.

“We are delighted that Nathan has chosen to play his cricket at Durham for the next few years as there was a lot of clubs interested in his signature,” Botham said. “Many people will have watched him in both the IPL and BBL and know the quality and experience he will bring to our side”.

Nevertheless, Botham’s assertion that his contacts would be invaluable in securing new arrivals for Durham are not backed up by financial clout as the club operates under tight financial constraints, some of them demanded by the ECB, and Rimmington’s arrival – a player who is both worthy and relatively unswung – illustrates the level of their ambitions.

David Hopps is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps