Ottis Gibson took 80 wickets in the Championship last season

Durham head coach Geoff Cook has admitted that the club will miss the experience of veteran Ottis Gibson this summer following his retirement.

Gibson was pivotal in Durham's success last season and Cook concedes that the West Indian will be hard to replace.

"The squad is minus a terrifically experienced player in Ottis Gibson," he told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"The big thing is replacing the experience and it will be fun for the young players to take up that mantle."

Interview: Durham head coach Geoff Cook

The Durham squad have just returned from South Africa having begun their preparations for the new county season, which starts next week with a Riverside derby against the Durham UCCE students. And Cook has been impressed with the efforts of his players.

"Liam Plunkett was out with us," said Cook. "He's just desperate to play some cricket. He played all of the four games and at least two occasions bowled quickly and well.

"The old man Dale Benkenstein batted in two games and got a 100. The only other batsman to really shine was Kyle Koetzer."

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Cook is hopeful that Durham's three-man England contingent, who have been away in New Zealand, can now return to the county fold and figure in their warm-up games, starting with Thursday's two-day friendly against Yorkshire at Headingley.

"Steve Harmison is coming down to Headingley with us which shows how keen he is," said Cook.

"Phillip Mustard I'm not sure. He had some dental treatment yesterday. Paul Collingwood has a little rest time as requested by the ECB.

"He'll feature in some of our one-day matches and a couple of the four-day games also."