Harmison misses out on easy early pickings

9:40am Thursday 17th April 2008

WHILE Durham began the season full of hope yesterday, the greatest optimist at Riverside was the ice cream man.

It was tempting to pop round for a 99, knowing that the Durham University batsmen weren't going to get anywhere near that total once Neil Killeen had destroyed their middle order.

After an opening stand of 28 in 20 overs, the students' wafer-thin line-up - they included six freshers - subsided to 53 for eight before Durham recalled Steve Harmison for another burst.

For a man who has grown used to the England limelight, starting the season before a smattering of shivering diehards was an opportunity to loosen up gently.

In his opening six-over spell Harmison conceded one run, with the vast majority of balls being allowed to pass by outside off stump.

On his return he bowled straighter, but was driven through mid-off for four by No 10 batsman Greg Thompson. It was only the third boundary of the innings, and the first was off the edge.

Harmison fired a couple in with a little more venom in his next over, but was left wicketless when Graham Onions bowled the last two batsmen and the students were all out for 76.

Although Mark Stoneman shouldered arms and was lbw to Patrick Foster for a duck, Michael Di Venuto scored 28 of Durham's first 29 runs, and went on to complete a 48-ball half-century before surrendering.

Perhaps he thought he should give others a chance, but there were echoes of his importance to Durham last season as they closed on 116 for five.

Di Venuto skied a catch to midoff, Kyle Coetzer pulled to midwicket, Phil Mustard edged to slip and Dale Benkenstein cruised to 34 before falling lbw to an in-swinger from Joe Buttleman.

Mustard knows that if he is to have a Test future he needs to build long innings. But after getting off the mark with a nonchalant waft over extra cover which all but carried for six, he failed to add to his score.

The Durham UCCE coach, Graeme Fowler, warned two years ago that Kolpak signings were ruining the prospects of university centre of excellence products graduating to the county game.

He has been proved right, and it appears to have sapped whatever motivation was provided by granting these games first-class status.

If the ECB are to see any worthwhile returns from the investment in six UCCEs they must find a way of persuading the counties to stop trawling overseas.

The steady flow of Durham graduates into the county game has dried up, and one of the few to have made an impact in one of these contests in recent years, Alex Loudon, lost confidence at Warwickshire and retired last season.

At 32, the long-serving Killeen's future with Durham is as a top one-day bowler who will do a steady job if injuries permit him a championship opportunity.

His six first-class wickets last season were all against the students, but his five for 15 yesterday underlined an interesting statistic.

It was his ninth first-class fivewicket haul, and of the four bowlers ahead of him in the Durham list Simon Brown has 36, John Wood 11 and Harmison and Melvyn Betts ten each.

Once the mopping-up allowed play to start at 1.10 there was little initial sign of the ball nipping around, but it was not until the second ball of the sixth over that the first run was scored. Anyone converted to the game via Twenty20 would have left by then.

University skipper Nick Prowting took the total to nine in the tenth over with a four through the slips off Onions, who again found the edge in his next over, only for the ball to fall just short and wide of Mustard.

Killeen replaced Harmison after 12 overs but it wasn't until his seventh over that he struck, and by that time Mark Davies had taken the first two wickets.

Left-hander opener Paul Johnston, a Yarm School product who hails from Hartlepool, drove to cover, then Lucas Carlisle played half forward and was lbw.

Killeen took wickets in five of his next six overs, two batsmen perishing without offering a stroke. One of those was Old Etonian Hugo Rawlinson, who got off the mark by square driving the day's first authentic boundary, only to be bowled next ball.

Joe Buttleman was yorked and the rest of Killeen's victims were lbw. He will play on Sunday in the Friends Provident opener against Yorkshire, but his chances of a championship place against Surrey next week are minimal as a scan has shown no serious damage to Liam Plunkett's side. The sight of Paul Wiseman coming in at No 7 yesterday underlined how Durham need Plunkett to add depth to the batting.

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