YORKSHIRE'S fear that the next dodgy pitch at Headingley will bring a points deduction helped Durham to become the first side to bat for a full day against the Tykes this season.

It was a mystery why David Byas put Durham in on an excellent surface, but they failed to take full advantage as three batsmen got themselves out when well set.

Against a team robbed of Gavin Hamilton, who broke down with a side injury which will keep him out for six weeks, Durham progressed to 167 for one before pressing the self-destruct button.

As in Wednesday's NatWest Trophy debacle, Nick Speak watched in disappointment from the other end as the procession continued and Durham closed on 253 for eight with Speak on 37.

Left-armer Ryan Sidebottom took four wickets to prove he can also be effective on a good track after claiming match figures of 11-43 in the last game at Headingley against Kent.

He was at his best yesterday in an impressive 11-over spell after tea in which he took three for 19, his victims including Muazam Ali, who was lbw first ball.

After 20-year-old Ali fell lbw second ball when opening the innings on his first-class debut against Derbyshire last week, it was hoped that batting at No 6 would give him greater protection. But he was struck on the foot by a good swinging ball to continue his unfortunate baptism.

Sidebottom also put Martin Speight through several overs of torture as the wicketkeeper survived two difficult chances before getting an inside edge to Richard Blakey.

There was no great pace in the pitch, and against an attack which still carried plenty of threat without Darren Gough and Hamilton, Durham had to work hard for their runs.

Only Katich and, to a lesser extent, Paul Collingwood made it look easy and Durham's decline began with the Australian's surprising exit. He had cruised to 55 when he pulled Chris Silverwood straight to mid-wicket.

Jon Lewis was next to go, ending four and a half hours of gutsy accumulation by cutting a Michael Vaughan long hop to point, where it was well caught by James Middlebrook.

Although it was always a struggle to find his timing, Lewis had featured in the biggest stands of the season for both the first and second wickets, putting on 60 with Michael Gough and 107 with Katich.

Spending so long at the crease in making his season's top score of 66 could be just what Lewis needed after going into the match with a championship average of 12.5.

Although less culpable, the third batsman to contribute to his own downfall was Collingwood, who pushed too firmly at a ball from Sidebottom and edged a comfortable catch to Byas at first slip.

Following his century at Feethams last week, Collingwood looked in good form and was putting together a promising stand with Speak when he was out for 23.

Knowing they were lucky not to have had points deducted because of the pitch against Kent, Yorkshire chose to play on the strip they used for the first match of the season when they scored over 500 against Derbyshire.

There was no inspection from a member of the pitches liaison panel against Kent until the match was almost over, but this time former Lancashire captain David Hughes was present all day.

He professed it was "a really good surface" but supported Byas's decision to put Durham in, saying the pitch was damp on Tuesday and he would have expected it to do more early on.

In fact, Yorkshire could well have taken early wickets, with Silverwood unlucky on four occasions.

"How did that miss?" was the query as Lewis all but played on to the first ball of the match, and on five he got an inside edge just past leg stump.

Gough also survived two anxious moments against Silverwood. He was close to lbw before he had scored, then there was a confident appeal for a catch at the wicket.

But Gough remained unruffled and in the sixth over he drove Matthew Hoggard firmly to the extra cover boundary, a stroke which he repeated twice before it brought his downfall with an inside edge into his stumps off Sidebottom.

It was a disappointing end for Gough, but at least he showed plenty of signs that Durham can expect more productive starts in the second half of the season. Their previous best first-wicket stand was 43 against Leicestershire.

Lewis needed 161 balls for his 50, compared with 87 for Katich, who moved into top gear in the 40s with a cracking square cut off Hoggard followed by another boundary, pulled dismissively in front of mid-wicket.

At that point Durham looked on course for maximum batting points for the second successive match.

By the end Speak was probably grateful to have two.

l EPPLETON all-rounder Shaun Birbeck will captain the Durham Board X1 tomorrow, when they can reach the quarter-finals of the ECB 38-County Championship by beating Cumbria at Ropery Lane, Chester-le-Street.

Team: S Birbeck (Eppleton, capt), S Chapman (Bishop Auckland), S Humble (Blaydon), S Ball (Norton), M Symington, G Bridge (Durham CCC), G Pratt, H Mirambe, P Mustard, M Davies (Durham Academy).