“For a Perth boy, the information are all over the place else is chilly.” Ryan Campbell has been taking a tour across the boundary at Hove, together with his Durham facet striving for breakthroughs of their Championship match towards Sussex. It’s, by latest requirements, a superbly sunny spring day, however Campbell is nicely wrapped up as he leans on an promoting board and discusses how he ended up at English cricket’s most northerly outpost.

A Western Australian, capped twice by his nation, who represented Hong Kong on the age of 44 earlier than occurring to teach Netherlands for greater than 5 years, Campbell is considered one of cricket’s nice nomads. He’s additionally a terrific survivor, in probably the most literal sense – 12 months in the past, whereas within the UK together with his household, he suffered a cardiac arrest that left him in an induced coma with a 7% likelihood of pulling by means of.

Remarkably, Campbell recovered in time to play a task in Netherlands’ T20 World Cup marketing campaign in Australia late final yr – a degree he had beforehand recognized because the “good method to end” his Dutch journey. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than he was on the transfer once more, taking over the job of Durham head coach and announcing himself match for the stresses and strains of life on the county beat.

“My well being is absolutely good,” he tells ESPNcricinfo with a smile. “It is fairly weird actually, subsequent Sunday is the anniversary of it, one yr, which has gone fairly quick to be trustworthy. Few adjustments, left the Netherlands, coming right here. However the primary factor is I am nonetheless right here to inform the story. My well being is sweet, my household – the children are going nicely, my spouse clearly. So actually trying ahead to this subsequent problem.”

The problem in query, that of resurrecting Durham, was supplied to Campbell by one other Australian and former WA team-mate, Marcus North, who’s now the membership’s director of cricket. Durham have been caught in Division Two since their abstract demotion by the ECB in 2016, as punishment for requiring a monetary bailout; though there have been indicators of enchancment, they completed a disappointing sixth in 2022, resulting in James Franklin’s departure after three seasons in cost.

“I’ve all the time cherished county cricket,” Campbell says. “I’ve all the time needed to be part of county cricket….

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