WITH the Riverside pitch looking exceptionally good for April, Durham will be keenly monitoring the progress of Shoaib Akhtar's back injury over the next week.

The ease with which Durham advanced from 190 for six to 350 all out and Nottinghamshire replied with 159 for two in yesterday's sunshine suggests it could take a bowler of Shoaib's pace to shake up visiting batsmen this season.

The news from Pakistan is that they are to hold a medical inquiry commission into the number of injuries their team suffered in the Test series defeat by India.

There have been accusations that Shoaib faked his injury, while his attitude has been criticised by skipper Inzamam ul Haq. While they are not uncommon in Pakistan, Durham will hope that such rumblings hasten Shoaib's departure.

He is expected at the end of the month and hopes to be fit by then to bolster an attack which was blunted yesterday by a pitch far superior to the one they played on at the Rose Bowl last week.

Durham's four batting bonus points were twice as many as they had made in losing their last three matches last season plus the one against Hampshire.

Other than Gavin Hamilton, everyone from four to nine in the Durham order made between 48 and 54, with Liam Plunkett being the top scorer.

It was his maiden half-century and came in an eighth-wicket stand of 106 with Graeme Bridge, which made the fall of the last three wickets for three runs something of a disappointment.

Last man Reon King went in with the score on 349 and did at least run the first ball he faced to third man to secure the fourth batting point before being yorked by Mark Ealham.

The earth tremors behind the Press box told us that work had finally begun on the long-awaited indoor school, where Durham hope to produce what in the modern jargon are called three-dimensional cricketers.

King is not one of those, and two games for Durham are not going to be enough for him to show his true bowling prowess.

He beat left-hander Darren Bicknell a couple of times in his first over yesterday and was unlucky when Jason Gallian edged him wide of third slip. But the overall impression was that Durham might just as well have played Neil Killeen or Graham Onions.

Plunkett shared the new ball but could probably have done with a longer rest after batting for over two hours, during which he confirmed his right to be considered two-dimensional, if not three.

There was a time before the new ball was taken when Plunkett and Bridge were scoring runs almost at will, with the visitors looking increasingly dispirited.

Plunkett smashed one of several full tosses bowled by Stuart MacGill to the mid-wicket boundary, then turned the last ball before lunch to fine leg for another four to bring up the 300.

An immaculate drive through extra cover off Charlie Shreck took him to 50 with his seventh four, but he lost momentum when the new ball was a few overs old and edged Ealham to first slip.

In the next over Bridge flashed loosely and also edged to slip to fall for 48, having also hit seven fours in a 105-ball stay.

The most fluent innings came from Andrew Pratt, who reached a 74-ball half-century by pulling a MacGill full toss to mid-wicket for his ninth four.

After beginning the day by working Shreck sweetly through the leg side, he progressed with a series of blows through and over extra cover off MacGill.

Nottinghamshire seemed prepared for the leg-spinner to buy a wicket and he finally succeeded when Pratt tried to turn him to leg and the ball lobbed off the edge for Pietersen to take a comfortable catch running round from slip.

He had also held a very sharp chance at second slip in the day's sixth over, when Nicky Peng drove wide of off stump at left-armer Greg Smith. He had added only three singles to his overnight 48, but fears that his early demise would spark a collapse proved unfounded.

Mark Davies again looked the most likely bowler to take a wicket and made the breakthrough with the score on 61 when Bicknell did no more than thrust his pad a foot down the wicket and was lbw for 41.

Most of Gallian's early runs came off the edge, but Russell Warren immediately found the middle of the bat, hitting Davies for two fours through the off side in one over.

Hamilton replaced him and Gallian edged his first ball for four, then in his next over an impassioned appeal for lbw against Warren was turned down.

Hamilton also had a big appeal for a catch at the wicket against Gallian, but the visiting captain looked well entrenched when he reached 50 and it was a surprise when he fell three overs before the close.

Plunkett suddenly found a little extra bounce and Gallian departed without waiting for the decision as the ball took the edge on the way to Andrew Pratt.

Warren's 50 came off only 65 balls and, along with Pietersen, he will be looking for more quick runs today in an effort to atone for the loss of half a day.