THERE would be much talk of Onions bringing tears to Somerset’s eyes at Taunton today.

Durham’s Graham Onions celebrated his call-up to the England Test squad by taking six for 31 as Somerset subsided to a paltry 69 all out and had to follow on 477 behind.

Onions knocked the stuffing out of the hosts as he began by bowling Marcus Trescothick in his second over and also took the next two wickets.

His pace and accuracy in front of the Sky cameras surely cemented his place against the West Indies at Lord’s next Thursday.

The sun shone again in Somerset this morning and Dale Benkenstein continued to make hay. Durham’s title-winning captain was last out for 181 with the total on 543, beating his previous best for the county of 162 not out, made against Derbyshire at Riverside in 2005.

On 477 for eight, Durham batted on after lunch, determined to rub Somerset’s noses into the well-grassed pitch they had prepared in the hope of bowling Durham out cheaply. Batting wasn’t easy in the first hour, when Benkenstein added only nine to his overnight 110 before driving a four past mid-off to bring up the 400 and ensure maximum batting points.

Phil Mustard was also subdued, making four in 40 minutes before he was run out. Benkenstein played the ball to mid-wicket and both set off then stopped. Mustard was unable to regain his ground in time to beat Peter Trego’s direct hit, although he might have been given the benefit of the doubt had the umpire not been able to turn to the Sky TV replay for assistance.

Callum Thorp made 32 before edging the otherwise hapless David Stiff to the wicketkeeper, then Mitch Claydon came in to take ten off an over from Stiff, who conceded 134 runs in 25 overs. He also contributed heavily to the 62 extras.

After bowling 14.2 overs, Onions continued to bowl in Somerset’s second innings but was rested after four overs. They reached 49 before Claydon made the breakthrough, pinning Arul Suppiah lbw.