DURHAM coach Jon Lewis has called on his side to use their home form to bounce back from their Specsavers County Championship Division Two defeat against Sussex.

His team suffered their first loss since the opening match of the campaign, falling to an innings defeat at Arundel.

But Durham have been solid at Emirates Riverside this term in the Championship, other than their loss to Kent in April. Lewis has targeted a third-straight win on home soil, after delivering victories over Leicestershire and Derbyshire, as his team prepare for the visit of Warwickshire.

He said: “When we’ve been successful in the past it’s been based on our form at home - although we didn’t win a game at the Riverside in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

“Traditionally when we have been successful, it has been based around making this place a tough place to come. It’s nice to get that back into the mix with our four-day form with back-to-back wins.”

Durham do not have time to dwell on their defeat to Sussex as they have to adapt their skills for their day/night Championship match and the deployment of the pink ball beginning today.

Lewis’ side endured a washout against Worcestershire in the format last season, although they were on the back foot for the majority of the contest. However, he’s hopeful of an improvement from both his team and the pink ball from last year.

He added: “We didn’t enjoy the week of the day/night Championship match last year. We didn’t play very well and the weather was awful. We didn’t play good cricket. I wouldn’t mind playing a day/night away from home because it might be easier being in a hotel rather than your own bed. It threw me a little, so I can’t say I loved the experience.

“It’s part of the game, four-day and Test-match cricket are going to go the way of the pink ball. There’s a bit of evidence that spectators enjoy the last couple of sessions when they can get there after work. We’ve got to adapt and accept it. There’s no point sticking your head in the sand and saying you don’t like it. It’s part of the future of the game.

“The ball goes a bit soft. It did last year. I’m sure they’ve tried to improve and adapt the ball that was used from last year. It wasn’t perfect, it was bowler friendly to start then it was like someone let the air out of it. So it will be interesting to see how much it has improved. The damp weather we had in the game here last year made it very tricky with the new ball. It was very tough to bat against.”