BEN Harmison is to make his first senior appearance for Durham in tonight's final Twenty20 Cup match against Lancashire at Riverside.

The name might send a little tremor through the visitors as 19-year-old Harmison's brother, Steve, had match figures of nine for 84 when Durham beat Lancashire by nine wickets in this season's championship clash at Old Trafford.

Although he bowls at just above medium pace, Ben is primarily a left-handed batsman and takes over from Nathan Astle.

Durham have decided to rest the New Zealander's injured hand ahead of his final championship appearance against Lancashire, starting at Riverside on Friday.

Astle split the webbing between two of his fingers a week ago against Nottinghamshire, and despite stitching the injury has not had the chance to heal properly.

Harmison junior, a former England Under 19 player, showed good form on Durham's pre-season tour and has continued to press his claims in the A team.

"He's a good, all-round cricketer and deserves his chance," said coach Martyn Moxon. "I hope he takes it as well as Gary Scott has done. The Twenty20 results have been disappointing, but the big plus has been the way Gary has gone about his work. He has fielded superbly, batted well under pressure at Headingley and has acquitted himself well with the ball."

Durham are not planning any other changes tonight as Graham Onions has been ill with wisdom tooth trouble and is not yet fit to resume, while Graeme Bridge is still struggling with his back problem.

Lancashire, who have topped 200 in each of their last three games, have already qualified for the quarter-finals, while Durham's challenge has fizzled out with three successive defeats.

l Michael Lumb has been dropped from Yorkshire's squad for their final North Division game against Leicestershire at Grace Road.

The stylish left-hander has yet to find any form this season and has struggled in Twenty20 cricket, making just 60 runs in seven games - sharp contrast to two years' ago when, in the competition's inaugural season, Lumb scooped £1,500 for striking 13 sixes, the most by any player.

Lumb's place goes to Matthew Wood, who is looking for an improvement in his own form before Yorkshire return to Championship cricket with the visit to Worcestershire at New Road on Friday.

Victory tonight could see them through to the quarter-final draw.

The only Yorkshire batsmen to take a shine to Twenty20 cricket this season are the Aussie pair of Ian Harvey and Phil Jaques, who between them have scored well over half of all their side's runs. Jaques leads the way with 271 but the mercurial Harvey has 239.

Read more about Durham here.