PAUL COLLINGWOOD, one of three Durham men in the England team at Riverside today, warmed up for the one-day international against Sri Lanka with a serious net test by members of the county club's Academy.

And, after witnessing the quality of the teenagers at Durham's disposal, Collingwood feels Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett will not be the last men from the region to follow him on to the international stage.

More than 16,000 will cram inside the picturesque ground below Lumley Castle when the first ball is bowled in the third of five NatWest Series matches, with England needing to win to avoid a series defeat.

If the game manages to escape the forcasted heavy showers, a reverse for England will see the side receive more unwanted criticism with the cricket World Cup in the Caribbean less than a year away.

Whatever the outcome of today's encounter, the event will again provide great pride for anyone associated with Durham. A victory would be the icing on an already satisfying cake.

The withdrawal of Middlesex's Ed Joyce from the original squad means Durham will be the only county side to have three players in the starting line-up against the Sri Lankans.

And, for a county that was only accepted into the first-class game in 1991, that represents a remarkable achievement. Collingwood, who became the first product of the Durham academy to represent England at senior level, is understandably proud.

"It's amazing. Fifteen years this club has been going and it's magnificent for the county," said Collingwood, who will earn his 95th cap some five years after making his debut in an ODI against Pakistan at Edgbaston.

"For Liam, Steve and myself it's great to play for your country and to do that in the North-East is fantastic. It's a hot-bed as well.

"When we went in the nets the academy lads were bowling at us and it's great to see them coming through. Some of them could literally be in the same position as us in five or six years, there are many with that potential."

Potential is what many of England's team today could do with fulfilling. Two comfortable defeats to Sri Lanka at Lord's and The Oval have quite rightly brought criticism.

The players, given Thursday off to try to regroup ahead of today's crucial match, are eager to make up for their earlier failings, although being robbed of many important faces is a valid excuse.

"If you look at the players we have lost, they are very experienced and very good players," said Collingwood, referring to the absence of Ashes heroes Ashley Giles, Simon Jones, Andrew Flintoff and captain Michael Vaughan.

"You are always going to miss guys like that. You can't dwell on it too much. If we think we are going to get beat we will go nowhere. We have to keep going and try to stay as confident as possible.

"We believe we are heading in the right direction but at 2-0 down obviously people are looking negatively. We don't think we are useless."

Such has been the poor level of performance in the last two games in the series, there is a growing feeling England no longer care much for the shorter version of the game.

A victory today - and the chances of a positive result is helped by Muttiah Muralitharan's return home to be with his sick baby son - and that view could change.

"We (Harmison, Plunkett and Collingwood) know the conditions up here and we generally know what the wicket does," said Collingwood. "But everybody in the side is looking forward to it and it's not just the three of us.

"It's a massive game for us, for England and for the one day side. It will be very hard to bounce back if we get beat. We realise that and that's why we want to create an atmosphere in which we can go out and express ourselves. Play with a big smile on our faces.

"When people say you are not bothered about one-day cricket it hurts. You want to prove people wrong."

England's new-look attack features Plunkett, Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan and Middlesex offspinner Jamie Dalrymple - the trio giving away 44 wides during the first two matches alone.

"Its up to the experienced guys to pull the youngsters along. They have talent and it's a simple as that. They haven't been picked because they have only good figures in the county's," said Collingwood, who hit 56 in the first match.

"One day international cricket can be as hard sometimes as Test cricket. You literally have to score a run a ball and as soon as you go out you are under pressure. When you have players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jaywardene coming at you then you can freeze.

"You think where am I going to bowl at these guys? These guys will bounce back. If we can get a result on Saturday, though, things will look a lot rosier."