DURHAM skipper Dale Benkenstein will be hoping to erase the only blot on his excellent first season when he leads a revenge mission against Lancashire at Riverside, starting today.

Having beaten Essex by an innings in the second of his four championship games in charge, he lost the next home match to the Red Rose men by an innings and 228 runs.

That was also the match which ended Jon Lewis's season on July 9, when he broke his collar bone in four places.

The combination of Jimmy Anderson, Dominic Cork and Glen Chapple proved too good for Durham in that match and Mal Loye hit a double hundred.

Like the rest of the England squad, Anderson is resting, but Lancashire are able to call on one-day international Sajid Mahmood and have also unearthed another useful seamer in 20-year-old Tom Smith.

Cork recently signed a oneyear extension to his contract, taking him through to the end of next season, and Lancashire now have his former Derbyshire colleague, Luke Sutton, behind the stumps following Warren Hegg's retirement.

At 37, Stuart Law still features in their middle order but the other Australian, former Durham player Brad Hodge, is waiting for his wife to give birth before travelling over.

Durham beat Lancashire for the first time in the championship when they won by nine wickets at Old Trafford last May.

Six members of that side will be missing, however, if Mick Lewis is again ruled out, which seems likely.

"There's no point in taking any risks at this stage, " said coach Martyn Moxon, adding: "It would be a real dilemma deciding who to leave out.

"It wouldn't be Graham Onions because I was delighted with the way he performed at Canterbury. He has worked extremely hard over the winter to get his action stronger and maintain more consistency.

"His attitude and commitment are unquestioned. He has worked a lot with Alan Walker and the trip to India allowed him to put into practice what he had been doing indoors."

Durham have not always enjoyed batting at Riverside over the last few seasons, but they were encouraged by the pitches for the two one-day friendlies against Scotland and totalling 575 at Canterbury will not have harmed their confidence.