EVEN a swashbuckling century from Darren Lehmann could do little to relieve the gloom at Headingley yesterday.

Given the rarity of a fourth day's play, there was never any prospect of an exciting climax as neither side showed much interest in winning, with Yorkshire more culpable in this respect than Durham.

Play began half an hour late and further rain would have come as a blessed relief on a day when stewards almost outnumbered spectators, most of whom were wrapped in blankets and head scarves.

How the rain held off was a meteorological mystery, while the even greater conundrum was how Yorkshire managed to be all out for 129 in their first innings then score 386 for four in the second.

There was a brief moment after lunch, with Lehmann in full cry, when it seemed Yorkshire might be thinking of setting a target.

When Durham took the new ball after 100 overs the score was 258 for two, giving Yorkshire a lead of 73 with 59 overs left, and the rapid rate of progress in the preceding few overs suggested they could ask Durham to score 180 in 35 overs.

With Michael Gough still in hospital awaiting his X-ray and blood test results, a Durham collapse was not out of the question, bearing in mind that they were all out for 74 in their second innings against Yorkshire at the Riverside two years ago.

Yorkshire would not have been able to call on Gavin Hamilton because of his side injury, but Hoggard, Silverwood and Sidebottom should have provided enough armoury for a brief assault.

But in this era of the safety-first approach, the prospect of an end to the tedium vanished when Neil Killeen bowled Michael Vaughan for 118 in the first over with the new ball and Lehmann tightened the buckle on his swash as his century approached.

His ninth first-class hundred for Yorkshire - and the first at Headingley - came off 120 balls, his second 50 taking four balls more than the first.

This was despite a cracking start after lunch, when he resumed on 49 with Richard Blakey as a runner following a back spasm.

It didn't inconvenience Lehmann's strokeplay as Steve Harmison, ignored in the morning, conceded 24 runs off five overs and later limped off with a recurrence of his sore shins.

Harmison's first two balls were despatched through the off-side for four and when he went round the wicket, the left-handed Lehmann twice stepped inside short balls on off stump and turned them nonchalantly to fine leg for four.

He was finally caught at deep square leg by Muazam Ali off Neil Killeen, having scored 136 of the 184 runs added while he was at the crease.

He contributed 77 to his stand of 102 with Vaughan, who had been similarly dominant in the first two partnerships but willingly became almost a sleeping partner when the Australian came in.

Richard Blakey fell in the day's third over, trying too late to withdraw his bat and edging Melvyn Betts to Martin Speight.

Yorkshire were still 28 behind, but Lehmann stroked his first ball to the cover boundary, and a few overs later similar strokes off two successive balls from Paul Collingwood wiped out the arrears.

The fact that Collingwood had opened up from the football end suggested Durham were in no particular mood to go for the jugular, the only excuse being that the quicker bowlers would not have fancied bowling into the blustery wind.

Vaughan, who resumed on 94, began by cutting a Collingwood long hop for his tenth four and reached his hundred off 225 balls. He spent a further 81 balls adding 18 runs, his unnecessary caution after passing 100 taking some of the gloss off an otherwise superb knock.

At that stage he had the two highest innings against Durham this season following his 94 at the Riverside, but Lehmann soon went past his total before leaving Matthew Wood and Hamilton to play out time against the wrist spin of Simon Katich and Ali.

Yorkshire skipper David Byas said: "We could have got into a winning position if we had not lost the first 45 overs on Sunday. As it was we were not in a position to set a challenging target."

l DURHAM provide four of England Under 19s' squad of 13 for three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka at the end of this month.

Nicky Peng, who is not 18 until September, will make his first appearance at this level, joining Gary Pratt, Ian Pattison and Mark Davies.

Pratt and Pattison were with the Under 19s for the World Cup in Sri Lanka last winter, along with left-arm spinner Graeme Bridge, who could come into the squad for the three Tests next month.

Davies, the seamer from Norton, is 20 in October and just beats the age limit for this summer's games.

Coach Tim Boon said: ''We have selected players who not only have performed well this year, but who, we believe, have shown qualities necessary for playing at the highest level.'