FORMER Australian Test spinner Ashley Mallett spent a third day at the Riverside yesterday, doing some coaching. But what Durham desperately need at the moment is a fast-bowling guru.

With Simon Brown and Neil Killeen ruled out, it was back to the dreadful stuff served up at Edgbaston three weeks ago as Nottinghamshire blazed their way to 277 for three before rain arrived just after tea.

Paul Johnson and Usman Afzaal scored at five runs an over during the afternoon in an unbroken stand of 171, with only the sparingly-used Paul Collingwood commanding any respect.

It is said that the improving pitches will produce better bowlers by making greater demands on their accuracy. This may eventually prove the case, but for the moment neither Steve Harmison nor Ian Hunter can muster any kind of control with the new ball.

After winning the toss, the visitors barely had to lay bat on ball as 32 of their first 54 runs came from extras, Hunter sending down four wides and Harmison three, one of which went for four.

Inevitably, they also gave Andrew Pratt a hard time and there were ten byes before Collingwood and James Brinkley brought some sanity to the proceedings.

Harmison has never recaptured the form which propelled him into the England squad for the first three Tests of last year.

He went into this match with four championship wickets from four games this season at an average of 78.25.

The attempted realignment of his left foot to prevent a recurrence of his sore shins will not be helping, but it is surely something he will have to work on in the second team once Brown returns, hopefully at Derby next week.

Yesterday's efforts provided a depressing reminder of Derby last season, when Dominic Cork plundered a double hundred, ending Durham's hopes of Division One survival and bringing down the curtain on Nick Speak's captaincy.

There was a stage in mid-afternoon when Jon Lewis was as powerless as Speak on that occasion. He brought back Brinkley only to see Johnson hit him for three successive fours before smashing Nicky Phillips for a four followed by a straight six in the next over.

Five overs of carnage produced 45 runs and it seemed Johnson would score a hundred in the session until Collingwood checked him with tea approaching.

A rare straight ball from Harmison had Darren Bicknell lbw for 45 to the first ball after lunch, bringing in Johnson at 106 for three. At tea he was on 88, scored off 108 balls, many of his 13 fours pulled disdainfully in front of square.

Johnson, 36, is an experienced executioner of poor bowling but has never quite convinced the selectors that he could survive at the top level, while the left-handed Afzaal was one of those in the frame to replace Nasser Hussain in the England team this week.

Coming in after Guy Welton and Greg Blewett fell in successive overs, Afzaal made a circumspect start before matching Johnson shot for shot in the afternoon.

His strokes off the back foot through the covers were of the highest order and his only stroke of luck came on 81, when he tried to pull Harmison and the ball flew off the splice over the wicketkeeper.

Bicknell had a similar escape off Hunter in the morning shortly after cracking a long hop low to cover's left, where Danny Law was unable to hang on.

Welton had just started to unveil the strokes which earned him the Gold Award in Nottinghamshire's Benson & Hedges win at the Riverside when he fell for 16, driving Collingwood straight to Hunter at cover. Then Blewett was lbw aiming to drive Brinkley wide of mid-on.