Emilio Gay earned the Rothesay County Championship Player of the Round after a record-breaking partnership with David Bedingham earned Durham a statement eight-wicket win over Lancashire.
Gay and Bedingham both posted their second centuries of the summer as they put on an unbroken 290-run stand to chase down a final-day target of 336.
鈥淚t was a great feeling,鈥� Gay told ecb.co.uk. 鈥淭o get a hundred in any situation is a nice feeling but to do it in a winning cause and for it to be on day four when you can walk off not out, winning the game when your partner鈥檚 also got a hundred, it鈥檚 one of the few times you鈥檒l experience all of those things together on the same day.鈥�
Gay, who scored 159 not out from 211 balls, added: 鈥淚t has sent out a message to the rest of the division to say that Durham are back and ready to try and fight and get back into Division One.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a long, tough season and if you鈥檙e going to get promoted you need to earn it. However, we really believe that we are a Division One club and we have the quality to be a top Division One club.
鈥淭here were a few nerves around from myself and the batters but Cambo [head coach Ryan Campbell] and the team tried to look at it as an opportunity to do something special rather than as a daunting challenge, saying, 鈥榠f we bat normally and we bat all day, we鈥檒l get the runs鈥�.鈥�
Gay said that Bedingham was the perfect man to have at the other end.
鈥淚 really get on well with Bedders and we love batting and talk about batting all the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously, he鈥檚 so good, but he鈥檚 also so calm. He lets you go about your business while he goes about his, and we work well together.
鈥淎s a team you feel confident when he鈥檚 at the crease. One of the reasons I moved to Durham was to be around players like that and to have such high-quality players at the other end.鈥�
While Gay earned top votes, England seamer Matthew Potts collected two votes after a vital 66 鈥� after Durham had slipped to 124 for seven in the first innings - as well as six wickets with the ball.
Potts is now equal second on the overall leaderboard, on five votes behind James Rew, whose Somerset side had a bye this round.
鈥淧ottsy got 66 not out and that was one of the most important moments in the whole game,鈥� Gay said. 鈥淭hose innings are what we鈥檙e all about. We didn鈥檛 play our best as a top six, but we鈥檝e got such depth in our squad. If we keep that up we鈥檒l be in good stead.鈥�
Gay becomes the second Durham player this season to receive the Rothesay Player of the Round accolade after Ben McKinney earned the honour for his double ton against Gloucestershire in round two.
Other players in this round of Rothesay County Championship matches to receive the maximum three points for their performances were Warwickshire鈥檚 Ed Barnard, Sussex鈥檚 John Simpson, Dean Elgar of Essex, Jake Weatherald of Leicestershire, Gloucestershire鈥檚 Will Williams and Tom Taylor from Worcestershire.
Round Four votes
Division One
Glamorgan v Leicestershire: 3 鈥� Jake Weatherald (Leicestershire); 2 鈥� Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan): 1 鈥� Jonny Tattersall (Leicestershire).
Yorkshire v Sussex: 3 鈥� John Simpson (Sussex); 2 鈥� Jack White (Yorkshire); 1 鈥� Fin Bean (Yorkshire).
Surrey v Essex: 3 - Dean Elgar (Essex); 2 鈥� Dan Lawernce (Surrey); 1 鈥� Paul Walter (Essex).
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire: 3 鈥� Ed Barnard (Warwickshire); 2 鈥� Michael Booth (Warwickshire); 1 鈥� Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire).
Division Two
Worcestershire v Kent: 3 鈥� Tom Taylor (Worcestershire); 2 鈥� Matt Milnes (Kent); 1 鈥� Brett D鈥橭liveira (Worcestershire).
Durham v Lancashire: 3 - Emilio Gay (Durham); 2 鈥� Matthew Potts (Durham); 1 鈥� David Bedingham (Durham).
Derbyshire v Gloucestershire: 3 鈥� Will Williams (Gloucestershire); 2 鈥� Miles Hammond (Gloucestershire); 1 鈥� Henry Brookes (Gloucestershire).
Leaderboard
7 鈥� James Rew (Somerset); 5 鈥� Matthew Potts (Durham), Jamie Smith (Surrey); 4 鈥� Tom Abell (Somerset), Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Emilio Gay (Durham); 3 鈥� Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Jimmy Anderson (Lancashire), Martin Andersson (Derbyshire), George Balderson (Lancashire), Ed Barnard (Warwickshire), Joe Clarke (Nottinghamshire), Mason Crane (Glamorgan), Matt Critchley (Essex), Henry Crocombe (Sussex), Brett D鈥橭liveira (Worcestershire), Dean Elgar (Essex), Marcus Harris (Lancashire), Dan Lategan (Worcestershire), Jack Leaning (Sussex), Ben McKinney (Durham), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Luke Procter (Northamptonshire), Tom Price (Sussex); James Sales (Northamptonshire), John Simpson (Sussex), Tom Taylor (Worcestershire), Jake Weatherald (Leicestershire), Beau Webster (Warwickshire), Will Williams (Gloucestershire).