WITH three of the four remaining games at home, the door remains open for Gordon Muchall to prolong his Durham career by proving he can score runs at Chester-le-Street.

At 32, he has been told there is no guarantee of a new contract at the end of the season, even though he is top of Durham's batting averages in all three formats.

Muchall goes into the match against second-placed Middlesex today with a championship average of 41.18, but the bulk of his 453 runs since coming into the team for the fifth match have come at Arundel and Southampton.

In six championship innings at home he has totalled 91 runs and it was a similar story last season, when he made 158 not out at Trent Bridge but had a top score of 37 not out at home.

In one-day cricket Muchall has proved an expert at shoring up the end of an innings, remaining unbeaten in ten of his 19 innings this season. He averages 59.33 in the Royal London Cup and 49.83 in the NatWest T20 Blast.

“We are trying to give Gordon as much information as possible,” said coach Jon Lewis. “We gave him an early indication of where he stands out of fairness to him.

“There are a number of factors and his form is one of them, so he can still earn a new contract. But it's important that there is a pathway for talented young lads like Jack Burnham, Adam Hickey and others.”

Among the others is Stokesley all-rounder James Weighell, who has been rewarded for his impressive second team performances with a place in today's squad.

With Paul Coughlin and Usman Arshad injured, he is now the next seamer in line should anything befall any of the senior men.

Middlesex are 16 points ahead of Durham, who are also four behind Warwickshire and now only five ahead of Nottinghamshire, who have joined the battle for second place.

Durham will have skipper Paul Collingwood back after missing the match at Scarborough through injury. He replaces Jack Burnham, who has since been with the England Under 19 one-day squad.

As they are without an overseas player and continue to rest Eoin Morgan, Middlesex have relied heavily on Dawid Malan for their runs recently. But Nick Compton has often posed a problem for Durham.

The absence of Steve Finn on England duty will not be a seen as a big handicap as he took only one wicket when Durham were routed for 71 in their second innings at Lord's in May.

James Harris took nine for 34 and was division one's leading wicket-taker at the time. He is now joint second with Sussex's Steve Magoffin on 58, with Chris Rushworth well ahead on 71.

Durham From): P D Collingwood (capt), M D Stoneman, G Clark, S G Borthwick, M J Richardson, G J Muchall, R D Pringle, J W Hastings, J Harrison, C Rushworth, G Onions, J Weighell.