Spare a thought for Farhaan Behardien, that stalwart servant of South African cricket, as he awaits some sense of rhythm in his unavoidably hasty stint with Durham in England’s Twenty20 domestic competition. But the veteran, resourceful middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pacer finally made it to the north-eastern county after lockdown-related snags recently ... and jumped straight into their campaign in the late-summer Vitality Blast T20 tournament. The 36-year-old “Fudge”, a 97-cap former Proteas white-ball representative, was initially intended, along with co-South African David Bedingham, to play for Durham on an all-formats basis in 2020 after agreeing terms in January - before the Covid-19 storm struck in its most pronounced way. So it was always going to be a tall order to hit the ground running at T20 level ... a situation only aggravated by his first scheduled appearance a fortnight ago being a no-result against Derbyshire without a ball bowled. He will clearly be anxious for a beneficial, lengthier opportunity with the blade when Durham tackle Yorkshire at Headingley later on Wednesday ...*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

Source: News 24 September 16, 2020 09:22 UTC