IT is a success that has been seven years in the making. Having been controversially demoted in 2016 amid a 48-point penalty and an acrimonious financial bailout from the ECB, Durham have clawed their way back into Division One of the County Championship. Finally, the county can move on from the pain of the past.

Last week’s innings-and-141-run win over Leicestershire at Seat Unique Riverside represented a fittingly dominant end to a hugely-impressive season. Durham ended the season on 233 points, a mammoth 66 points clear of their closest rivals, Worcestershire.

They lost just one of their 14 four-day matches – even that was a narrow defeat while gambling in an attempt to achieve an unlikely victory – and finished the season with the leading run scorer in the second tier (Alex Lees) and the top two leading wicket takers (Ben Raine and Matthew Potts). All in all, it is hard to see how things could have been improved.

“It’s my fourth trophy with the club, and third in the County Championship,” said Sunderland-born skipper Scott Borthwick. “And it feels a bit more special this time with me being captain getting us back into Division One.

“Looking back at 2013 (Durham’s last title success), that was special because we were docked points at the start of the year and we didn’t have an overseas player - we were all just kids, me, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman and Mark Wood. We were just making our way in the game.

“Now, with the captaincy and taking the club back to where we belong, this is so special. We’re a big club and we deserve to be in Division One. I think with the talent of the players we have, we should be in Division One. I thought that at the start of last year when the divisions went back to the old system, and our aim this season was not just to go up, but to win the league.”

That they achieved that aim speaks volumes for the way in which the club has developed over the last 12 months. The appointment of new head coach, Ryan Campbell, was clearly hugely important, with Durham’s players readily buying into the Western Australian’s aggressive, risk-taking approach.

The notion of drawing a game was effectively taken off the table, with Durham mimicking their all-rounder, Ben Stokes’, ‘Bazball’ approach with England. It helped that England’s pace bowlers stayed fit for most of the summer, ensuring Durham were able to get the best out of Potts and Brydon Carse, but the astute acquisition of players like Ollie Robinson, signed from Kent, and Matt Parkinson, recruited on loan from Lancashire, was also a massive factor in the title success.

“We've got some good young players that have gone through the roof with their ability,” said Borthwick. “Look at players like Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts, two lads that have represented England over the last few weeks.

The Northern Echo: Durham skipper Scott Borthwick leads the title celebrations at Seat Unique RiversideDurham skipper Scott Borthwick leads the title celebrations at Seat Unique Riverside (Image: PA)

“We knew that we were going to be a good bowling unit with them and Ben Raine, who's a prolific championship bowler. We also have talented batters, but it was all about going out there to do it and we've smashed it this season.

“I was pleased that we didn’t let up. In the two games after we clinched promotion, we wanted to show our class and prove that we were the best team in the division. Beating Leicestershire over three-and-a-half days proved that. We proved that we are where we are because we’re that good.”

Borthwick and Campbell have been closely aligned throughout the season, setting standards and developing the strong team ethos that was encapsulated in the stirring dressing-room rendition of ‘Blaydon Races’ that followed the final victory of the summer and has become something of a viral social media hit in the last week.

When he was appointed ahead of the start of the season, Campbell found himself taking over at a club that had perhaps lost some of its identity in the wake of an exodus of senior players following enforced relegation and the departure of key figures such as Geoff Cook, Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison.

He has embraced the ‘outsider’ mentality that played such a big part in Durham’s unsettling of the established order a decade or so ago, and positioned the county at the vanguard of the wider changes that are shaking up the cricketing world.

“We wanted to play a different style that had been played here previously,” said Campbell. “We knew the way we wanted to play. That was always my vision, but to get everyone to buy into it was going to be important and, thankfully, they’ve embraced it. We’ve seen a group of talented blokes go about their business with the bat and, just as importantly, with the ball.

“All we can do now is take this team to where we think it belongs. I’m extremely proud of the club’s position, and we’re not going to try and just survive, we’re going to try and win Division One. I reckon there is a lot more exciting cricket to come."