[7] On his first-class debut for Durham, in the opening match of the 2009 English season, Blackwell scored a century against the Marylebone Cricket Club, featuring a bowling line up including England hopefuls Sajid Mahmood, Kabir Ali, Tim Bresnan, and Adil Rashid.

[6] Blackwell went on to have a productive season in 2009, scoring 801 runs at 40.05 and taking 43 wickets at 23.53 as Durham won the County Championship for the second successive year.

In the second Indian innings, Blackwell was initially more economical but as India went on an audacious chase of the huge total set to them by England, he was brought on to prevent the batsmen from scoring quickly, but conceded 18 runs in his first over.

Blackwell looked set to make another Test match appearance against Sri Lanka, but suffered a shoulder injury which derailed his season.

[14] After retiring in 2013, Blackwell turned his full attention to umpiring, initially officiating in Minor County and Second XI cricket.

[16] Blackwell made his debut in First-class cricket in April 2015 in a match between Somerset and Durham MCC University at Taunton.