AS DURHAM closed in on Division One safety at a murky Lord’s yesterday new arrival Varun Aaron must have wondered if he would be surplus to requirements.

The Indian paceman will play in the last two championship games in place of John Hastings but Durham will be as good as safe if they beat Middlesex today.

An innings of 74 not out by Gordon Muchall, plus Paul Collingwood’s second half-century of the match, took them from 139 for six in their second innings to 294, leaving Middlesex to score 396 to win.

For the second time in the match Australia opener Chris Rogers was out fifth ball, this time lbw to Hastings when aiming to mid-wicket.

It was the shot of a beaten man, but after a break for bad light Sam Robson survived a confident shout from Chris Rushworth to reach 34 out of 44 for one at the close.

Given that a tenth successive season in the top flight is something to be cherished, Durham needed Aaron as an insurance policy and had to make the signing before last Friday’s deadline.

They also remain short of bowlers, despite Mark Wood’s comeback in the second team this week.

Aaron arrived on Wednesday and has been keen to get in some practice ahead of his debut at home to relegated Northamptonshire on Monday.

Yesterday’s news that Ben Stokes has been awarded a central contract was no surprise and will be welcomed by Durham because of the compensation they receive.

If they decide they can afford to sign a new player they might turn their attentions to Azeem Rafiq as a replacement for Gareth Breese.

Rafiq, once seen as a future Yorkshire captain, is to be released at the end of the season and with Ryan Pringle apparently becoming more of a batsman Durham will be short of an off-spinner.

So were Middlesex yesterday as the hapless Ollie Rayner’s flirtation with England Lions last winter appears to have done him no good.

He was given one over before lunch, then recalled for two in mid-afternoon, when he fell down in delivering his first ball.

Non-striker Muchall had to step over him to take a single.

It was odd that Rayner should be asked to turn his off breaks into two right-handers with the short boundary on the leg side.

Collingwood duly planted him over the rope at mid-wicket for his third six to reach 50 off 70 balls, only to depart for 58 in the last over before tea.

The lead was 319 by then and Muchall had the licence to play with freedom as he passed the unbeaten 37 which was his second highest score of the season after his 158 not out at Trent Bridge.

Having gone in to face the new ball in the first innings, when he made nought, this time he got to the crease when it was 53 overs old. But the ball was still swinging, particularly for Toby Roland-Jones.

He bowled some seriously good balls, having Collingwood missed at second slip by Dawid Malan on 14 and beating both batsmen several times.

Muchall was also missed at gully on 28 and profited from a few edges but also played some exquisitely-timed strokes, such as the drive through extra cover off Neil Dexter for his ninth four, which took him to 50 off 83 balls.

Stokes, lbw for 15, was the only victim for the luckless Roland-Jones until Rushworth whacked a catch to cover, while Tim Murtagh went on to complete a ten-wicket match haul.

Batting was an onerous task in the morning and after Phil Mustard was caught behind for 25 Mark Stoneman shrugged off his injury scare to go in at No 4.

But he had failed to score when he shaped to turn Murtagh to leg and readjusted to the away swinger too late to avoid giving wicketkeeper John Simpson another catch.

Michael Richardson rode his luck as eight of his 40 runs came from overthrows, probably reflecting Middlesex’s frustration, and a further eight from top-edged pulls over the wicketkeeper.

Scott Borthwick battled all morning to add 23 to his overnight seven, then fell to the first ball he faced after lunch, edging Murtagh to Simpson when 19 short of his 1,000 championship runs.

No Durham-born batsman has reached that target twice, but both Borthwick and Stoneman, who is on 924, will have the chance to do so next week.

SCORECARD

Middlesex v Durham
At Lord’s.
Overnight: Middlesex 276 (D J Malan
97). Durham 377 (S G Borthwick 176,B
A Stokes 85, P D Collingwood 59; T J
Murtagh 5-106) and 28-1.

Durham Second Innings
P Mustard c Simpson b T J Murtagh .25
S G Borthwick c Simpson b T J
Murtagh ....................................................30
M D Stoneman c Simpson b T J Murtagh........0
M J Richardson b Dexter ......................40
B A Stokes lbw b Roland-Jones.......... 15
P D Collingwood c Simpson b Finn...58
G J Muchall not out................................ 74
J W Hastings c Dexter b T J Murtagh ......28
C Rushworth c Rogers b Roland-Jones..19
P K Chase lbw b Rayner......................... 0
Extras (lb5 pens 0) ................ 5
Total (91 overs).................. 294
Fall: 1-0 2-33 3-33 4-99 5-99 6-139
7-218 8-268 9-293
Bowling: T J Murtagh 26-8-86-5. Finn
18-3-65-1. Roland-Jones 21-4-65-2.
Dexter 22-5-62-1. Rayner 4-1-11-1.

Middlesex Second Innings Close
S D Robson not out...............................34
C J Rogers lbw b Hastings .................... 4
D J Malan not out ..................................... 4
Extras (lb2 pens 0) ................ 2
Total 1 wkt (12 overs)..........44
Fall: 1-4
To Bat: E J G Morgan, N J Dexter, J A
Simpson, P R Stirling, O P Rayner, T S
Roland-Jones, T J Murtagh, S T Finn
Bowling: Rushworth 6-3-15-0. Hastings
4-1-15-1. Stokes 2-1-12-0.