County Durham has been celebrating England’s recent Cricket World Cup triumph.
From providing venues to providing players, the county has contributed to a great World Cup and England’s historic win.
In addition to County Durham hosting three matches at the Riverside Stadium in Chester-le-Street – including England’s vital first win against New Zealand, which saw them reach the competition’s knock-out stages – 27,000 supporters visited a fanzone in Durham City.
Here fans could watch the action on big screens, enjoy a drink and have a go at street cricket.
Also, three members of the England side have County Durham connections. Mark Wood and man of the match Ben Stokes play for Durham while Liam Plunkett was a Durham player for nine years.
Durham County Council celebrated England’s victory by raising the St George’s flag above County Hall on Monday.
The council’s cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Carl Marshall, said, “On behalf of everyone at Durham County Council, I’d like to send hearty congratulations to England following their tremendous success on Sunday and throughout the tournament.”
“The Cricket World Cup has been an amazing success for our county with more than 70,000 coming here to see the three matches – including pop star Rihanna – both at the ground and the fanzone in Durham City.”
“This has provided a real benefit to our economy with so much money being spent in local shops, pubs and accommodation, not to mention shots of County Durham being beamed out on TV around the world, which can only encourage more people to come here.”
“We are also immensely proud of the success of Ben Stokes, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett which, on the back of Durham-born Steph Houghton’s heroics in the women’s football World Cup, shows what a hotbed of talent our county is in sporting terms.”
A Durham-County-Council-created floral display at the Riverside was used as a backdrop for national sports reports and the council’s Area Action Partnerships gave away 100 tickets to County Durham voluntary groups.
(The featured image shows Cllr Carl Marshall with the Flag of St George.)
