ANDY Blignaut's chances of facing his future Tasmania teammate Ricky Ponting during Somerset's visit to Durham are looking remote because of the Zimbabwean's chest infection.
Australia captain Ponting is in a weakened Somerset line-up for tonight's floodlit totesport League match at Riverside and is staying on for the championship match starting on Friday.
Durham were contemplating playing both Blignaut and South Australia paceman Shaun Tait, who arrives on Thursday, in the four-day game. But the antibiotics Blignaut has been taking have so far failed to bring any improvement and he is due to head off next week to take up his three-year contract with Tasmania.
"It's a blow for him and for us because we wanted to have a good look at him with a view to next season," said Durham coach Martyn Moxon.
Blignaut missed Sunday's win against Worcestershire and Durham are likely to field the same team tonight with their position strengthened by Middlesex's win against Leicestershire on Monday.
It will be strengthened even further if Middlesex win at home to Worcestershire next Sunday, when another crucial match sees Nottinghamshire play Leicestershire at Trent Bridge.
Despite the presence of Ponting, second-placed Durham should be confident of beating Somerset, who are next to the bottom.
They are without Nixon McLean as well as Andrew Caddick, although there is a chance that both could return on Friday. McLean has a thigh injury and Caddick is returning in the second team this week after being out for several weeks with a foot problem.
James Hildreth, who scored a championship hundred against Durham at Taunton in May, misses tonight's game as he is playing for England Under 19s against Bangladesh on his home ground.
After tonight Durham have to wait until August 29 for their penultimate totesport match at home to Sussex, and there is every chance that their final game against Yorkshire at Scarborough on September 5 will be a promotion decider.
Tonight's match starts at 4.10 and will be televised live by Sky.
Durham: J J B Lewis, M J North, N Peng, P D Collingwood, G J Pratt, G R Breese, A Pratt, G D Bridge, L E Plunkett, N Killeen, G Onions.
Somerset: M Burns, J Francis, R Ponting, K Parsons, I Blackwell, M Wood, K Dutch, A Laraman, G Andrew, R Johnson, S Francis.
Read more about Durham County Cricket Club here.
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