But can Roseberry spearhead a genuine challenge for trophies?The last three years have

But can Roseberry spearhead a genuine challenge for trophies?”The last three years have been very difficult. When the opportunity came to captain them, I just had to take it.”A new ground at Chester-le-Street, planned as a future Test venue and with facilities as good as any can offer, will reinforce Durham’s grand vision, as will the £500,000 sponsorship deal just signed with Newcastle Breweries. “We used to say, `Wouldn’t it be great if Durham and Northumberland could get together?’ But it seemed so far away.”I’m a Durham lad and, because of my father’s involvement, I’ve always had a close connection with the development of the county. So, for me, it was tremendous to see first-class cricket starting there. Given his background, all the better that it was Durham.”When I was growing up, we always used to talk about having a first-class team,” he said. He has hankered after captaining a side for three years, ever since Middlesex chose John Carr ahead of him to be Mike Gatting’s No 2. Any offer of a captaincy would have tempted him to leave Lord’s.

That’s what we are trying to instil, a bit of competitiveness.”The first signs appeared in Sunday’s opening Benson and Hedges win against Leicestershire, and Roseberry will be looking for a repeat against Warwickshire at Edgbaston today.Roseberry’s arrival enables him to realise two ambitions at once. You can’t rest back and say, `Oh, I’ve got five years.’ You have to be pushing yourself from the off. It is not arrogance, just competitiveness and I think it is important.”Hopefully, I’m going to bring something of that attitude to Durham cricket. Maybe I do get a bit carried away with what I want to achieve but, coming from Middlesex, I walk on to the pitch expecting to win. I expect things to happen now, not in five years,” he said.”Perhaps I’m a little bit unrealistic. After all, Roseberry’s wealthy father, Matty, was one of the driving forces behind Durham’s launch as a first-class county three summers ago and is now a director of the club with no little influence.
But the notion that the 28-year-old opening batsman, 10 years in the ultra-competitive environment of Middlesex, might be buying a ticket to the comfort zone with his five-year contract could not be less accurate.Roseberry’s ambitions for the county of his birth burn so fiercely, in fact, that he fears his impatience might get the better of him if Durham, after three years of unequal struggle, do not now begin to make their presence felt.”People say to me, `Be patient, you’ve got five years’ but that’s too long for me. The 22-year-old rider, who is retained by the Gordon Richards stable, took a crashing fall at Kelso three weeks ago in which he suffered crushed veterbra when kicked by a following horse..

To the more cynical outside observer, Mike Roseberry’s return to his roots to captain Durham this season probably carries the suspicious smell of a cosy arrangement. “I’ve badly bruised a thigh and sprained an ankle on separate legs, so it’s pretty painful,” he said. “I’ve been for X-rays and luckily nothing is broken but I will miss Punchestown tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll be back for Perth on Wednesday but I will have to see how I feel in the morning.”
nTony Dobbin, the top northern-based jockey, will not ride again this season on the advice of the renowned orthopaedic surgeon Hugh Barber. Norman Williamson was forced to miss his two rides at Chepstow yesterday evening because of injury.

The Irishman, whose tally of 114 winners this season is a personal best, had to withdraw after a schooling accident in the afternoon. Nakir has it to do under top weight of 12st while Thumbs Up, Native Mission and Snitton Lane were put in their place behind Coulton at Aintree.Oh So Grumpy may keep that prize in Ireland, while Nakir’s stable-companion Camitrov may have to give best to Winter Belle – runner-up to Harcon on her most recent start – in the novice chase.Yesterday’s results, page 31. An unconsidered 25-1 chance at Prestbury Park, she can confirm the form with fourth-placed Blazing Spectacle on 1lb worse terms and may have most to fear from last week’s Fairyhouse winner Hotel Minella, the mount of Jamie Osborne.
British stables supply four of the nine runners for the Drogheda Handicap Chase, in which. Bairn’s trainer, Luca Cumani, also sent out Barathea to finish second to Zafonic in 1993, two years after Lycius occupied the same position for Fabre behind Mystiko.

Among the biggest disappointments were favourites Ajdal and King’s Theatre.n Lochsong’s owner, Jeff Smith, has failed in his appeal against the decision of the Beverley stewards to demote his Blue Siren to second in a race on 8 April It was the second time Blue Siren had been demoted The same happened in the Nunthorpe Stakes last year.. The Punchestown Festival, the third of the National Hunt season’s main meetings after Cheltenham and Aintree, starts today with an opportunity for Tourist Attraction to prove that her Supreme Novices’ Hurdle victory was no fluke. Although he has been champion owner on the Flat in Britain eight times, Sheikh Mohammed has not won the 2,000 after 10 years of trying.None of his 17 runners in the past decade has gone closer than Bairn, who was beaten just a head by Shadeed in 1985. Coral and Ladbrokes have left Diffident’s odds unaltered at 8-1 and 5-1 respectively, but the latter firm, recipient of the £50,000 bet, cut Celtic Swing to 4-5.If history is any guide, the Celtic Swing supporter need not fear Sheikh Mohammed’s pair. Diffident recorded one of the most impressive Classic trials of the past week when winning the European Free Handicap at Newmarket last Wednesday in a fast time.The decision had surprisingly little effect on ante-post betting for the Guineas. William Hill now offer Diffident at 5-1, compared to 9-2 “with a run” prior to the announcement, with the prices of Celtic Swing and Pennekamp unchanged.