Early slump fired Durham - Smith

Smith praised his players for turning around their Twenty20 Cup campaign

Durham captain Will Smith believes a poor start in the Twenty20 Cup was the inspiration for the Dynamos' qualification for the quarter-finals.

After losing four of their first six matches, Durham won three from four and Smith has been delighted with the effort from the squad.

"We knew at the end of the first phase we hadn't played the cricket we wanted to," he told BBC Newcastle.

"Maybe that gave us a little bit of a spur in the last four games."

Durham have been drawn away to Kent in their quarter-final tie, which takes place the week commencing Monday, 27 July.

One of the heroes of the win against Leicestershire at Grace Road, a victory that clinched Durham's place in the last eight, was Australian Twenty20 specialist David Warner.

Much had been made of the impact he was expected to make ahead of his arrival, and Smith believes the hype was justified, given his influence on the squad with the bat and in the field.

"He's so energetic, he loves life, he just wants to be hitting boundaries and running people out and being involved, the centre of everything," added Smith.

"Just having that guy around rubs off on everyone else, you can tell that everyone else has seen how well he fields and how much he buzzes around and they feel 'If he's doing that then we need to be doing it too'.

"It's great to have him around because it spurs everyone else on a little bit and means that everyone is doing as much as they can to win these games."

Warner is likely to remain with Durham for their quarter-final participation, although he may then depart as West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul returns from Test duty to take his place as the club's overseas player in mid-August.