DURHAM are planning to work on their square as well as their squad over the winter after finishing with the county championship's wooden spoon for the fifth time in 13 years.

They have played much better away from home this season and have decided to take steps to overcome the problem which has afflicted the Riverside square for two years.

"There is a root break one to two inches below the surface," said chief executive David Harker. "The pitches are not bad but they are not as good as we would like them to be.

"The groundsman has identified the remedial work needed to address the problem, but because of the risks involved with the weather we can't do the whole square at once. We need to re-lay a few pitches at a time."

Although England admitted batting badly, the fact that this season's one-day international at Riverside was over in half the allotted time was an embarrassment to Durham and none of their own batsmen have scored a home century this season.

"We have struggled to deal with the new ball at home," said coach Martyn Moxon. "The last game against Leicestershire highlighted that. We did well to get to 298 in the end, but if we had had a decent start we could have posted a match-winning score.

"We can't make the pitch an excuse because a decent amount of runs have been scored here. But the root break plus a layer of fibre which is hindering grass growth are making it impossible to get a firm base.

"With an uneven covering of coarse grass and a less-than-hard surface the ball's seam grips the surface and causes movement, plus a 'stoppy' kind of bounce.

"We have struggled to adapt our game to the conditions. The batsmen kept thinking the ball was there to hit and it wasn't, so they nicked it.

"It has been desperately disappointing for me that some of the young batsmen have not come through. My aim was to produce a successful team of Durham-born players, and it's frustrating that it hasn't happened.

"But we have to remember that lads like Nicky Peng and Gary Pratt are still only 21. I still believe in their ability, but at some point we have to turn their potential into results.

"Our performances in championship cricket have been poor. But the plus points tend to get lost in the disappointments.

"Mark Davies was outstanding until he was injured, Gordon Muchall has played well and Phil Mustard has the potential to be another Adam Gilchrist. His natural ability with the bat is frightening, but we have to work on his shot selection.

"We don't want to stop him playing his shots, but 30 or 40 is not good enough.

"He has scored big hundreds for the A team, the next stage is for him to do it in the first team."

Although Gavin Hamilton didn't bowl against Leicestershire because of an ankle problem, he will be offered an extension of his one-year contract.

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