DURHAM will choose between James Weighell and Barry McCarthy to fill the gap left by Ben Stokes in their Specsavers County Championship match at home to Lancashire starting tomorrow.

The seam bowling all-rounders played two games each at the end of last season, when Irishman McCarthy made the greater impression.

He top-scored with 38 not out in the second innings of Durham's defeat at Trent Bridge and took four for 154 in his two outings. He was also the top wicket-taker in the second X1 last year.

Weighell, from Stokesley, also showed promise with the bat but conceded runs at five an over in taking one for 179.

It was in the home match against Lancashire two years ago that Paul Coughlin made 85 on his championship debut and took four wickets in the match.

Early last season he looked an established member of the team, but a second successive campaign was cut short by injury and Durham are determined to ease him back gently.

Lancashire feel the same about their talented all-rounder, Tom Smith, who has also been plagued by injury and is feeling his way back in the second team.

Durham will be keen to burst Lancashire's bubble with the Red Rose blooming early this year with two wins from three games.

After spending four seasons going up and down since winning the title in 2011, most pundits expected them to struggle.

But new overseas man Neil Wagner took 11 wickets in the opening win against Nottinghamshire, while Liam Livingstone hit a ton in the draw at Taunton before all-rounder Luke Procter and spinner Simon Kerrigan starred in last week's victory against Hampshire.

Wagner is a 30-year-old left-arm swing bowler who was born in South Africa but has played Test cricket for New Zealand, where Scott Borthwick faced him when playing for Wellington last winter.

Livingstone, 22, hit the headlines a year ago for scoring 350 off 138 balls for Nantwich in a Cheshire League match and has broken into Lancashire's championship side this season. He scored 70 on debut against Nottinghamshire and an unbeaten 108 against Somerset.

Jimmy Anderson played in the first three games but, like Stokes, is now on England duty and could be replaced by Saqib Mahmood.

He played with Durham's Jack Burnham for England Under 19s during the winter, as did Lancashire opener Haseeb Hameed.

Despite having the better of three draws so far, Durham find themselves third from the bottom and will be determined to build on their strong home form against a team who have won on only one of their last seven visits.

Durham (from): P D Collingwood (capt), M D Stoneman, K K Jennings, S G Borthwick, J T A Burnham, M J Richardson, G J Muchall, R D Pringle, J W Weighell, B J McCarthy, B A Carse, Rushworth, G Onions.