DURHAM skipper Paul Collingwood, who said last season would be his last, last night opened the possibility of carrying on past his 40th birthday next year.

After taking five wickets on the first day of championship action at Taunton he followed up with a century yesterday and said: “If I keep enjoying my cricket as much as this I might keep going.

“Enjoying it is all I'm trying to do. I've had 20 years of heartache and analysing and now I accept that there will be some hard times but I'm not going to worry about it.

“I am not planning to take any breaks – I want to contribute in all forms of the game and encourage the others to use their skills. There's no point in only playing to 70 or 80 per cent of your potential.”

Collingwood, who finished on 109 not out, raced through the 90s and explained: “You learn with experience that when there are eight wickets down you are only two balls away from being stranded. I've generally been aggressive in the 90s anyway.

“We've had a magnificent day, set up by a great innings of 90 from Scott Borthwick, then when you have 20 overs in the field at the end of a day it's a tricky period and all 11 have to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the opposition.

“We did that. Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth are two of the best opening bowlers in the country. They were superb and we gave nothing away in the field.”