A View From the Boundary England v Zimbabwe, The Riverside, 7 June 2003

Peter Beardsley, a fanatical follower of sport, was never going to miss Durham's Test debut.

Beardsley in full flight for Newcastle

A wicketkeeper of "no great shakes", the former international footballer was one of many north-easterners who had to travel in order to watch Test cricket.

Headingley was the closest port of call, but Beardsley was willing to go further afield in order to get his fix.

Now he need worry no more about early starts and long drives after the Riverside's first international match.

"You hope for a Test match and it has come sooner than we expected," he told Rob Nothman in "A View from the Boundary".

"We started in 1992, but 1995 was when it first kicked off and it has been an amazing ride."

The years of the likes of Denis Compton and Ian Botham mixing football and cricket are long past, with the two seasons colliding like never before.

Beardsley is the first to admit that he did not have to spend long deciding which sporting path to follow.

In his youth he was rarely without a football and his chosen sport took him around the world in an 20-year playing career.

In stark contrast, cricket took him down the road and was "a good way of relaxing in the summer".

"I used to love watching Allan Knott and Derek Underwood. Knotty was fantastic and that's probably where I got the wicketkeeping thing from."

With the bat I'm a bit like Steve Harmison Peter Beardsley

"Getting into double figures is heady heights for me and until the ball has gone somewhere near the boundary I stay put."

But he has had some notable tutors down the years, such as former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd.

"I played a couple of games with Clive in testimonial games in Lancashire and it was good fun to play with the pros.

"I used to stay put until Clive shouted - he had the knowledge."

The other pros he mixed with in flannels of the footballing variety.

"We played the local clubs and it was great fun," Beardlsey said of his days at Newcastle United with Kevin Keegan and Paul Gascoigne.

"Kevin actually missed our promotion winning game against Huddersfield in 1983 after he got injured in the morning in the gym.

"He did it himself trying to hook one. It got him in the eye and gave him a big shiner.

"Paul Gascoigne was a funny one, running in throwing all sorts of shapes and the crowd loved it."

PETER BEARDSLEY FACTFILE Born: 18 January 1961 England caps: 59 Debut January 1986 Two World Cups (1986 & 1990) England goals: 9 Clubs: Carlisle Utd, Vancouver Whitecaps, Manchester Utd, Newcastle Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Bolton, Manchester City, Fulham, Hartlepool Utd Club appearances: 845 Club goals: 278 Honours: FA Cup (1989) League title (1988 & 1990) - all with Liverpool Newcastle appearances: 321 Newcastle goals: 117

But neither were a patch on John Barnes, who was unquestionably the most talented footballer-turned-cricketer Beardsley played with.

These days football and cricket share equal billing in the Beardsley household.

Beardsley junior has followed his father's footsteps behind the stumps with somewhat more success, playing at school and county level with a tour to Barbados in the offing.

Two weeks in the Caribbean is the sort of opportunity that his father could only dream of in his youth.

"Until I was 18 I had hardly ever left Newcastle. It's a different world these days and to go to Barbados is wonderful."

Beardsley's first overseas trip came when he joined Vancouver Whitecaps in a whirlwind few days in 1981 which helped kickstart his sensational footballing career.

"I was married on the Wednesday, having played at Burnely the night before, when my best man scored a hat-trick.

"After a match on the Saturday we were off to Vancouver on the Sunday.

"It was the first time I had been abroad, all very new and exciting, and we classed it as a honeymoon. It was a great experience."

Peter Beardsley talks cricket and much more

A great experience and the start of a great career.