DURHAM'S Paul Collingwood continued to press his claims for the all-rounder's slot in the England team for the two Tests against Bangladesh by taking the first five-wicket haul of his career at Stockton yesterday.

But then a man whose England career is over, Durham's old nemesis Andrew Caddick, wrecked an excellent start to their reply with a spell of five for eight in 17 balls.

The 36-year-old warhorse had gone wicketless for the first 12 overs of an unbroken 17-over spell before reducing Durham from 86 without loss to 118 for six in reply to Somerset's 252.

Caddick finally rested and Gordon Muchall and Liam Plunkett looked capable of seeing out the remaining overs, only for Muchall to pull Richard Johnson to long leg two overs from the close.

Durham finished on 141 for seven and with all the wickets falling to seam they had cause to rue leaving out Nicky Peng to bring in left-arm spinner Graeme Bridge.

With the first Test at Lord's starting on May 26 it is unlikely that Andrew Flintoff will be fit to bowl and Collingwood did his chances no harm by taking five for 52.

The fall of 15 wickets or more on the first day obliges the umpires to notify Lord's, but pitch inspector Phil Sharpe left during Durham's first wicket partnership saying he was perfectly satisfied with the surface.

Quite well-grassed, it is the sort of pitch which encourages attacking cricket and it was only the occasional extra bounce which caused difficulty until Caddick's luck changed.

Sometimes the ball starts to swing once the shine has worn off one side, and that appeared to be the case as Mike Hussey, Paul Collingwood and Gareth Breese fell to edged catches.

Dale Benkenstein was more culpable, going for an ambitious pull only to lift the ball almost vertically for wicketkeeper Rob Turner to take the catch at short square leg.

Final proof that Caddick was in a purple patch came with his first ball to Phil Mustard, a swinging yorker which the left-hander jabbed on to his foot only to see it trickle on to the stumps with just enough force to remove a bail.

With wickets falling in clusters, it all made for a strange day's cricket, with batting looking the simplest of pastimes when Collingwood first came on to bowl.

Somerset's highly dangerous fifth wicket pair of James Hildreth and Ian Blackwell were sailing serenely along, scoring at almost seven an over during a stand of 103.

In the all-rounder's first over the left-handed Blackwell turned him to fine leg for four then clipped him to the mid-wicket boundary.

But Collingwood snared the former England one-day man in his third over immediately after Blackwell eased him through mid-on for his tenth four to bring up the 100 partnership.

A big appeal for lbw was turned down and the next ball yorked Blackwell for 48 as he played across the line. It was a lazy shot, signalling why he has not made more of his undoubted talent.

Hildreth, 20, continued to play with the same freedom and confidence he displayed in making 101 and 72 in the championship match against Durham at Taunton last season.

He and Blackwell ruined Mark Davies's lunchtime figures of two for 13 from eight overs, Hildreth almost going down on one knee to lift the local lad over long-on for six as he conceded 36 runs in four overs.

Steve Harmison also came in for harsh punishment, but as Somerset continued to bat as though they were on a flat Taunton track no-one gave the impression of permanence.

The occasional extra bounce accounted for John Francis and Mike Burns, both caught in the gully by Benkenstein when pushing forward, and there was similar lift when Hildreth finally fell to Collingwood for 70.

He had hit ten fours and a six when he pushed forward and edged to Breese at first slip.

The fear of further carnage came with the arrival of Johnson, who thrashed a 53-ball century at Riverside last season. But after hitting two fours, one off the edge, he played across the line and was bowled by Collingwood.

Rob Turner edged to Mustard and Caddick drove to long-off, where Bridge held his second good catch, to complete Collingwood's haul.

He varied his pace and his quicker ball was noticeably swifter than in the past as he improved his previous first-class best of four for 31 at Derby in 2002.

Harmison took two wickets, although he initially struggled to get his line right against England colleague Marcus Trescothick.

The left-hander's top championship score this season is 22 but he looked in little trouble as he eased to 21 off 23 balls, only to go for an ambitious pull off Harmison and top edge a steepling catch to Mustard.

Sanath Jarasuriya's struggles to adapt to English early season conditions were not helped by visiting a northern club ground and the Sri Lankan World Cup star made only two before pushing forward and being bowled by Davies.

Plunkett bowled well with little joy, but picked up one wicket when Aaron Laraman went for a pull and was caught on the run by Bridge at mid-on.

Bridge was given his first outing of the season at the expense of Peng as Durham believe the pitch will take spin, but after being given three overs just before lunch he wasn't required again.

Somerset's batsmen said they experienced some difficulty with Harmison delivering from above the sightscreen, but the Durham openers looked comfortable enough with Caddick, who is the same height, coming from the same end.

Jon Lewis was the first to go, following a wide one in medium pacer Laraman's first over to edge to Turner for 36.

There was still no cause for alarm as Hussey reached 47 out of 102 before Caddick started his mayhem, finding the edge for Trescothick to take a low catch at first slip.

There was to be respite until Caddick finally rested, but after putting on 19 with Plunkett, Muchall's careless exit left Durham struggling for first innings parity today.