WHILE workmen prepare to lay the foundations for floodlights, the Durham batsmen put down their own platform today in readiness for their attempts to shine this season.

Keaton Jennings emerged from his famine at the end of last season to feast on the Durham University attack with a career-best 177 not out.

The construction work put more than half of the ground off limits to the 300 fans who turned up for the first day of the season at the Emirates Durham ICG.

The pleasant sunshine meant there was no need of the usual gay profusion of woolly hats at this time of year and the season would have got off to a blissful start had the cricket been a little more competitive.

Sadly, since the university centres of excellence were created Durham have ceased to attract the cream. There has been little sign in recent years of any student following in the footsteps of Nasser Hussain and Andrew Strauss.

In fact, the most recent graduate to threaten to make a mark, Somerset's Chris Jones, announced his retirement last summer at 23.

One who might yet have a future with Somerset is the university's American-born captain Cameron Steel, who has played for their second team and made 80 out of 129 for seven when the students visited Taunton last week.

He won the toss and invited Durham to bat yesterday, giving Jennings and Scott Borthwick the chance to make centuries, while Calum MacLeod weighed in with 67 and Paul Collingwood thrashed an unbeaten 55 in a total of 448 for four declared.

With 13 overs to bat, the students reached 39 without loss. Graham Onions looked in decent fettle after his groin injury scare and Paul Coughlin bowled an eye-catching over before fading light forced Durham to turn to spin.

Jennings' fifth first-class century spanned 178 balls and was a model of patience, underlining his determination to shrug off the torment he endured in September. Four of his last five innings produced ducks and he made only ten in the other.

The 22-year-old South Africa-born left-hander accelerated impressively after reaching three figures, scoring his remaining 77 runs off 63 balls.

He and Collingwood plundered 78 off the last six overs before the captain declared after driving his third six over long-on to reach 55 off 43 balls.

Borthwick was off the mark with a perfectly-timed straight-driven four and there were 16 more boundaries in his 133-ball century.

He might have been lbw on 61 when trying to sweep a full-length ball from Chaitanya Bishnoi, but former Nottinghamshire batsman Paul Pollard, standing in a Durham match for the first time, gave him not out.

Borthwick obligingly got out five balls after reaching his hundred and there was a second  wicket for Sri Lankan Dimitri Ratnayeke when Michael Richardson played back to the off-spinner and was lbw for six.

MacLeod shrugged off his disappointing World Cup and was soon dipping into his one-day repertoire as well as playing crisp orthodox strokes. He eventually holed out at long-on.

As usual, most of the students came from the south of England, the exceptions being their spinners, Ratnayeke and Bishnoi, who has played for Delhi Under 19s.

The first five bowlers used all purveyed at a similar pace, on the brisk side of medium, and the biggest threat stemmed from left-armer Ben Williams' struggles to control the swing.

He began the match by obliging umpire Michael Gough to extend his arms for a ball which swung well wide of left-hander Mark Stoneman's off stump. And in his second over a ball which Williams must have hoped would swing flew straight down the leg side for four wides.

He wasn't the only one contributing to the extras as Will Phillips, making his first-class debut, opened up with a no-ball and over-stepped twice more in his first six deliveries.

Such failings can result from young men trying too hard and in fairness to Williams when he got it right he posed problems, twice beating Stoneman before the opener fell for five when he pulled a catch to square leg.

Jennings set out to bat all day. He was on 49 at lunch, 120 at tea and shortly afterwards passed his previous best of 127, made at Hove in the final match of 2013. He also began with a century against the students that season and will hope this proves a good omen.