Harmison snares Vaughan

Those who worship at the altar of celebrity had billed the Durham v Yorkshire match as a private battle between the two as they seek an England recall.

Harmison had Vaughan caught behind for 24, but the Yorkshireman was said to have left the arena cursing his misfortune.

He stood his ground when Harmison and the rest of the Durham team went up with their impassioned appeal. Until that point the paceman had been losing the battle, but the longer he bowled in a nine-over stint after lunch the better he got.

He suddenly surprised Vaughan with wicked bounce and umpire Nick Cook clearly agreed that the ball had brushed the batsman's glove on the way to wicketkeeper Phil Mustard. Vaughan looked non-plussed before trudging off.

It was not the outcome that the watching England selector, James Whitaker, was looking for as it is believed he and his cronies are keen to get Vaughan back into the team.

Towards the end of his spell, Harmison also had left-hander Jacques Rudolph caught by “Colonel” Mustard for 57.

Gerard Brophy made 75 out of Yorkshire's 264 for six after taking six cathes behind the stumps as Durham were dismissed for 362.

Mustard was in command when Durham began the second day on 303 for seven. Resuming on 62, he passed his previous highest home championship score of 81 but was left stranded on 94.

Realising he was in danger of running out of partners, Mustard resorted to some audacious strokes, twice reverse-sweeping leg-spinner Adil Rashid for four.

But the famous Mustard and Onions combination lacked the necessary bite as Onions made only four, off the edge, before another edge off Matthew Hoggard gave Brophy his sixth catch. This equalled the record number of catches in an innings against Durham.

Mustard was on 88 when Onions departed, bringing in last man Harmison, who clipped his first ball from former England colleague Matthew Hoggard wide of mid-on for three. He failed to add to that score, however, before pushing half forward and falling lbw to Rashid’s googly.

Yorkshire began the day by pushing the field back when Mustard was on strike to give him a single. They were rewarded for this questionable tactic by a number of boundaries from Thorp, the supposedly vulnerable man they wished to attack.

When Mustard made his previous best Riverside championship score, against Nottinghamshire in 2006, he and Thorp were the only Durham batsmen to reach double figures. Thorp made 68 not out on that occasion, but had never threatened to repeat it until he contributed 42 to the stand of 86 before punching a return catch to Hoggard today.

It was Hoggard’s fourth ball of the morning, Tim Bresnan and Deon Kruis having been preferred initially. After Hoggard also removed Onions he finished with the best figures of four for 82.

The left-handed duo of Rudolph and Andrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph opened the Yorkshire innings as Joe Sayers had been off the field most of the previous day with a shoulder injury.

The score had raced to 29 after six overs when Onions replaced Harmison and two overs before lunch he knocked out Gale's off stump to bring in Vaughan.

The ex-England captain looked in good form until his reluctant departure, then a fifth wicket stand of 105 between Brophy and Bresnan threatened to give Yorkshire command. But Brophy recklessly went down the pitch to Ian Blackwell and was stumped by Mustard, then Bresnan dragged a ball from Laim Plunkett into his stumps to give Durham real hope of victory.