DURHAM will reassess Scott Styris's position after the game against Sussex, starting at Horsham tomorrow.

The New Zealander has quite a serious knee condition and the problem for Durham is to work out their chances of getting value for money from a player who is not fully fit.

They have considered asking him to stay on beyond the agreed date of August 1, but also have the option of bringing in a replacement for the rest of the season.

While keeping out Kyle Coetzer, who was showing a lot of promise, Styris has totalled 138 runs in six championship innings.

Coach Geoff Cook said: "We wanted him to do the fourth seamer's job but he hasn't been able to bowl the number of overs we were hoping for. That meant we had to play four seamers at the expense of another batsman at The Oval."

Cook will again consider handing 20-year-old left-hander Mark Stoneman his senior debut at Horsham.

In the absence of Michael Di Venuto, who hopes to back in action at the end of the month, Gareth Breese opened the batting at The Oval and made 23 and eight as Durham were dismissed for 191 and 204.

"We just have to score more runs," said Cook. "We have been too reliant on Dale Benkenstein and Michael, whose absence is tough to cover. We'll have to consider our options."

Cook declined to blame any kind of a hangover from Twenty20 cricket for Durham's failings against Surrey, although he admitted: "It was not a typical Oval game.

"There was some excellent bowling from Steve Harmison, Ottis Gibson and Matt Nicholson, but there was some pretty average batting from both sides until Mark Butcher and Rikki Clarke put their match-winning stand together.

"We hit the balls that needed to be hit for four - they were not rash shots. There were a lot of bad balls and it gave the impression that people were playing recklessly. Batsmen got out through poor shot selection."

Durham took yesterday off and hope to get some practice at Horsham today, with Cook stressing that there is nothing to be gained from working overtime in sorting out the problems encountered by Liam Plunkett at The Oval.

"We just have to get him to chill out," he said. "He's had enough practice and advice over the last nine months, possibly too much. Young cricketers just have to feel confident at the level they are playing at and switching between county and international cricket can become very disruptive."