ANY batting points are welcome for Durham after picking up four in their last six games, but they made heavy weather of earning a third at home to depleted Warwickshire yesterday.

Three of those previous four came at Arundel against a Sussex attack robbed of four injured seamers and yesterday's visitors turned up in similar disarray.

It has been said that fast bowlers who spent their formative years down the pit never got injured and Paul Collingwood probably wishes that David Millns had stayed there.

The ex-miner who emerged to become a Leicestershire paceman and now an umpire gave the Durham captain out lbw when he had edged a ball from Rikki Clarke on to his pad.

Collingwood departed with such reluctance that he may have left himself open to a charge of dissent.

His disappointment was understandable as he had reached 31 in trying to hold his side together as they squandered the excellent start provided by Mark Stoneman's second century in successive championship innings.

They subsided from 184 for one to 219 for five before Ryan Pringle rode his luck in making 53. He was last out, caught at deep mid-wicket, with the total on 314 and with four overs to bat Warwickshire reached ten without loss.

Stoneman said: “We don't see it as an opportunity missed. Ryan showed some real class to get us up to 300 and we are happy with that.

“There's a bit in the pitch and if we bowl well we could knock them over for 200.”

Warwickshire were convinced they had Pringle caught behind on ten – one of several occasions when he played and missed – but he played some authoritative strokes in following up his 69 not out against Yorkshire.

Following his 131 against the Tykes, Stoneman reached 112 before departing in the middle of a slide which could have been worse as Collingwood was dropped at first slip on six off Chris Woakes after Tim Ambrose dived across Varun Chopra.

Durham's decision to bat was probably helped by Chris Wright and Boyd Rankin joining Keith Barker and Richard Jones on the casualty list. Both had stiff backs.

Woakes made his first appearance of the season after foot and knee injuries, and 22-year-old seamer Tom Milnes was also drafted into a side also lacking Jonathan Trott through paternity leave.

Keaton Jennings never looked settled and was lbw for seven, propping forward against Clarke, who found some movement in a testing opening spell.

Stoneman hit him for three fours in his fifth over, the third one gloved so fine down the leg side that it just evaded Tim Ambrose.

Oliver Hannon-Dalby shared the new ball, but there was a bigger threat when Woakes came on for the 14th over.

He found Stoneman's edge twice in his first two overs, the second one flying at shoulder height to the left of third slip.

Scott Borthwick took time to play himself in, but he was well underway once he had hit two cracking fours in Milnes' first over.

Borthwick was the dominant partner in the run-up to lunch, but Stoneman took over on the resumption, scoring the first 22 runs to bring up the 100 stand as his second 50 came off 51 balls.

Off-spinner Jeetan Patel had bowled seven overs for 11 runs until Stoneman hit him for four fours off the back foot through the off side in two overs to speed from 84 to his 127-ball hundred.

The stand was worth 151 when Borthwick fell for 67 to Woakes, who initially looked to be appealing for lbw. But the ball had nicked the inside edge and flown off the pad to gully.

Milnes had conceded 48 in eight overs when he suddenly moved a good-length ball away off the seam to hit Stoneman's off stump.

Michael Richardson made a streaky three before aiming airily across the and falling lbw to Clarke.

The middle order frailties were further underlined by Gordon Muchall's continuing struggles on home pitches. After batting so well at Arundel he made nought and 26 against Yorkshire and fell for 11 yesterday.

Milnes found his edge with another good ball and there was further disappointment when John Hastings failed to capitalise on being dropped at mid-off.

Hannon-Dalby, clearly not a three-dimensional cricketer, was the culprit but two balls later Hastings lofted Patel to deep mid-wicket.

Jamie Harrison helped Pringle to add 40 before the last three wickets went down for 18 runs. Harrison chopped on against Milnes and Clarke took the last two to finish with five for 62.