Durham v Lancashire (Liverpool Victoria County Championship) : Day Two

GORDON Muchall set himself a pre-season target of making 1,000 championship runs for the first time and he is already almost a third of the way there after two innings.

The 23-year-old batsman followed his 219 at Canterbury last week by making 102 as Durham replied to Lancashire's 421 with 277 for nine at Riverside yesterday.

Muchall's three championship centuries prior to last week were spaced over four seasons and these back-to-back efforts confirm that he has learnt all the lessons of his formative years.

His double century came too late to get him into the England A team this week, but he must now have earned an entry in the selectors' notebooks.

Generally Muchall looked very secure, but he offered chances to point and mid-wicket on 79 and 83 during a period after tea when he had to work hard to keep the board ticking over.

Showing the ability and patience to ride out a testing period, he had scored 14 in 15 overs until he punched a back-foot four through the covers off left-arm spinner Gary Keedy then moved confidently into the 90s.

Increasing cloud cover added to his difficulties as he was left with the tail following the departure of Phil Mustard and Ottis Gibson with Durham still in danger of following on.

Short balls in successive Glen Chapple overs were fiercely pulled to the mid-wicket boundary to take Muchall to his 176-ball century and past the follow-on target of 272.

Two wickets fell on 277, however, as Muchall cut another short ball from Chapple straight to point and the same bowler picked up his third wicket when he had Graham Onions lbw.

Muchall again held the innings together as the rest of the top six perished between 22 and 37, three of them defeated by 20-year-old Tom Smith.

The Liverpool-born seamer made a big impression when handed his championship debut last week in the absence of James Anderson and was given an early opportunity yesterday with Dominic Cork off the field with a twisted ankle.

The economy of his action suggests Smith will never be particularly quick and there was also a fair sprinkling of half volleys. But when he hit the seam on a good length he caused problems, particularly in nipping the ball away from left-handers.

Jimmy Maher cut Smith's first ball for four, but was then beaten by a beauty and a similar ball in the youngster's third over found the edge on the way to wicketkeeper Luke Sutton.

Jon Lewis was more culpable as he had reached 33 before driving wide of off stump five minutes before lunch and edging to Stuart Law at first slip.

Skipper Dale Benkenstein had a streaky inside edge for four among his early runs, but was looking extremely comfortable on 37 when he was lbw in the first over of Smith's second spell. Again the fact that the ball did just enough off the seam was the key.

Smith also beat Gary Pratt a couple of times with balls which pitched on middle stump and went away, but the left-hander followed the second of these by driving the next three balls through the offside for four.

On 25, however, Pratt departed in Keedy's second over, although he didn't look happy to be given out caught off bat and pad at short leg.

There was also an element of doubt about Gareth Breese's exit, although he would not be proud of the shot after playing well to reach 26.

In Cork's absence, visiting captain Mark Chilton turned to his own rarely-used medium pace and when Breese shaped to cut the second ball he was given out caught at the wicket. The look of disbelief could have been because he didn't touch it or because he had become only the ninth first-class victim for Chilton.

At 232 for five the total was one short of when Mustard went to the crease at Canterbury to share the 249-run stand which put the game beyond Kent's reach.

He showed the same restraint, but having played himself in he pushed at a ball wide of off stump from Chapple and edged to Sutton.

Gibson then struck one crunching drive before Smith returned and had him lbw playing across the line.

Durham took the remaining three Lancashire wickets in 40 minutes in the morning but not before Maher had put down another chance at second slip.

It was his third miss of the innings, which hopefully will prove to be an aberration caused by acclimatisation as Durham's previous Australian slip fielders have all been expert pouchers.

Smith had not scored when he was dropped off Gibson, but he made only two before he tried to force Onions off the back foot and got an inside edge into his stumps.

Gibson then cleaned up, just as he had in both innings at Canterbury last week. He had Sajid Mahmood lbw for seven, forcing Sutton to try to farm the strike with only Keedy left for company.

The wicketkeeper tucked Gibson away in front of mid-wicket to reach 50, but when trying something similar on 58 he was also lbw.

Gibson's figures of four for 106 were a little flattering when compared with Onions' two for 117, but cricket has rarely been fair and Durham are more concerned with the team effort than misleading statistics.

They would not be happy yesterday that only one man out of six had built on a promising start. Others in the top order will need to chip in if they are to save this match.

Scorecard

Durham v Lancashire at Riverside

Overnight: Lancashire 388-7 (M B Loye 114).

Lancashire First Innings
L D Sutton lbw b Gibson 58
T C Smith b Onions 2
S I Mahmood lbw b Gibson 7
G Keedy not out 5
Extras (lb10 w1 nb10 pens 0) 21
Total (113.5 overs) 421
Fall: 1-10 2-107 3-194 4-243 5-243 6-353 7-388
8-391 9-406
Bowling: Gibson 28.5-1-106-4. Onions 24-2-
117-2. Thorp 23-8-58-2. Killeen 19-5-47-1.
Benkenstein 10-2-40-0. Breese 9-1-43-1.

Durham First Innings Close
J J Lewis c Law b Smith 33
J P Maher c Sutton b Smith 22
G J Muchall c Horton b Chapple 102
G J Pratt c Sutcliffe b Keedy 25
D M Benkenstein lbw b Smith 37
G R Breese c Sutton b Chilton 26
P Mustard c Sutton b Chapple 10
O D Gibson lbw b Smith 6
C D Thorp not out 7
G Onions lbw b Chapple 0
N Killeen not out 0
Extras (b1 lb8 pens 0) 9
Total 9 wkts (92 overs) 277
Fall: 1-47 2-72 3-110 4-183 5-232 6-251 7-259
8-277 9-277
Bowling: Chapple 26-5-70-3. Mahmood 22-5-
62-0. Smith 19-4-68-4. Keedy 22.3-3-67-1.
Chilton 2.3-1-1-1.