Ben McKinney hit a double century to register his career-best first-class score on the opening day of round two of the 2026 County Championship.
Ben McKinney strengthens England hopes with maiden first-class double century
McKinney, among the contenders to challenge Zak Crawley’s spot as the opener of the England men’s Test team, played a rapid knock to hit the first double century of his young first-class career. The 21-year-old remained unbeaten for 214 at the end of day one in Durham’s County Championship clash against Gloucestershire in Bristol.
Cameron Bancroft won the toss and put Durham into bat first, but his call couldn’t have gone more wrong. The opening pair of Alex Lees and McKinney put on a mammoth 305-run partnership for the first wicket, Durham’s third-highest opening stand of all time.
Both the batters completed their respective centuries in the process, with McKinney even getting to his 150 during the stand. Lees eventually fell to Will Williams for 129. Emilio Gay, also a contender to take Crawley’s England spot, couldn’t repeat his heroics from the first game and was dismissed for five.
Match 10, Gloucestershire vs Durham
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David Bedingham joined McKinney before tea and the duo piled on even more misery on Gloucestershire. They added an unbeaten 145 runs and both remained unbeaten at stumps, with Bedingham playing at 76, having completed his 15th county half-century. Durham were well placed at 456-2.
McKinney was among the runs for Durham last season as well, scoring 1,117 runs at 31.38 in 10 matches, with two hundreds, including a top score of 153. Before the ongoing game, he had 1,332 runs in 25 first-class matches at 32.48, with four hundreds and two fifties.
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