Durham County Cricket Club started the 2005 season with odds of 20-1 to win the Second Division of the County Championship, and in one-day cricket they started the season in Division Two of the National League. However, they were promoted in both competitions - in the County Championship, they finished second after an initial run of four wins and eight matches without defeat. They only lost two of 16 Championship matches, securing promotion a week before the end of the tournament. In the National League, they were promoted with two weeks to spare, and won their last five matches - yet finished two points behind Sussex Sharks, who had a similar run. The cup competitions gave them lower final placings, however - in the C&G Trophy, they were knocked out in the first round by Derbyshire, and without internationals Mike Hussey and Paul Collingwood, who played in the NatWest Series, they lost five of eight matches in the group stages in the Twenty20 Cup to finish fifth in the North Division. Durham played 16 first class games in 2005, winning six, drawing eight and losing two. In 20 List A matches, they won twelve, lost six, and had two no-results, while eight Twenty20 matches resulted in two wins, five losses and one no-result. Players Jimmy Maher Ashley Noffke Brad Williams David Barrick Dale Benkenstein Gareth Breese Graeme Bridge Kyle Coetzer Paul Collingwood Mark Davies Michael Gough Gavin Hamilton Stephen Harmison Neil Killeen Jonathan Lewis James Lowe Gordon Muchall Philip Mustard Graham Onions Nicky Peng Liam Plunkett Andrew Pratt Gary Pratt Gary Scott Callum Thorp Mark Turner Alan Walker Tables Championship totesport League Twenty20 Group Stage (North) Match details April Durham won all four games in April, taking two Championship wins well inside the four-day time limit as they beat Leicestershire by an innings inside three days, gaining 22 points and the Championship lead, and Worcestershire by seven wickets inside two days, which they kept . In the National League, they won their first game against Leicestershire by nine runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method to go second in the table behind Yorkshire on net run rate. They followed this up with a 138-run win over Surrey, their highest win margin by runs all season, to take over the lead in the National League as well. County Championship: Leicestershire v Durham (13–15 April) Durham (22pts) beat Leicestershire (1pt) by an innings and