Cricket: Durham's delight at signing Blackwell.

Byline: STUART RAYNER

DURHAM have signed one of county cricket's biggest-hitting all-rounders as they look to build on last season's Championship success, writes STUART RAYNER.

Former England international Ian Blackwell is perhaps best known for his bludgeoning style with the bat, but his left-arm spin will also be an important element in next season's four-day side.

Since they joined the ranks of First-Class cricket in 1992, Durham's biggest weakness has been the lack of a quality spinner but the addition of Blackwell from Somerset will go some way towards rectifying that.

Blackwell has 239 First-Class wickets and although his bowling average of 42.15 is hardly astonishing, he was selected as an England Test match spinner as recently as March 2006, when he made his solitary appearance. He also has 34 caps in limited-overs cricket, which is his stronger suit.

"With Durham looking to constantly improve our squad, when it became clear Ian was available we grabbed the chance of signing him," explained coach Geoff Cook.

"I think it's important to sign players of Ian's quality and experience to continue the squad's progress in all forms of the game."

Blackwell will probably have the most impact in Twenty20 thanks to his explosive batting.

The former Derbyshire player averages 39 with the bat in the First-Class game. He won the Walter Lawrence Trophy for the fastest First-Class hundred in 2005 and his top-score of 247 not out, against his old county two years earlier, came off only 156 balls.

Blackwell's signing is a shock on more than one count.

Having captained Somerset in 2006, it is a surprise to see him leave Taunton and last week Durham "finalised" their squad for last season, only for the opportunity to sign the allrounder to arise.

His signing will put pressure on 38-year-old Paul Wiseman and 32-year-old Gareth Breese, who are Durham's first-choice spinners in four-day and limited-overs cricket respectively.