DURHAM have dropped last season's player of the year Gary Pratt and are to hand a debut to Kyle Coetzer in the championship match against Glamorgan starting at Cardiff tomorrow.

Born in Aberdeen, 20-year-old Coetzer has played for Scotland and has scored runs consistently this season after being promoted from the Durham Academy to development contract status.

Pratt made 1,000 first-class runs last season for the first time and easily topped Durham's National League averages with 510 runs at 42.50.

But he had to return early from Australia in the winter because of injury and has struggled to regain his form.

In 15 championship innings this season he is averaging 18.2, and has paid the price despite top scoring with 48 in Sunday's totesport League defeat by Scotland in Edinburgh.

The axe is intended to remind a player who has recently appeared as 12th man for England that he can't take his place for granted.

He might be seen as the unfortunate one as others may be in need of the same reminder in a thin squad lacking competition for places.

"Gary has played reasonably well in the one-day games," said coach Martyn Moxon. "But the four-day game is different and he has not made the necessary runs.

"We are bottom of the table and could have made a lot more changes, but we have to get the balance right.

"All the batsmen have shown glimpses of form, but not enough. In my time here I have been trying to get them to understand their own games and be aware of what they need to do both in preparation and during performances.

"I'm also trying to get them to understand how the game works. You have to anticipate when something is going to happen and try to stay one step ahead.

"Young players need to learn these things, but we haven't got it right yet and we have to try to do something about it in Cardiff before tackling a whole host of one-day cricket."

The vacancy in the Durham side caused by Paul Collingwood's one-day international duty looks likely to be filled by Graeme Bridge as Durham look to strengthen the spin department.

He was 12th man in Edinburgh, with Graham Onions preferred. But the seamer's six overs cost 36 runs, while Mark Davies conceded 45 off seven.

"We didn't bowl well enough," said Moxon. "After the rain we would have bowled first had we won the toss, but on that pitch I felt we had scored enough runs.

"There was no complacency when we had them 44 for four because that was something we had spoken about.

"Our total would have been enough if we had bowled as well as we have been doing in one-day cricket, but we were not quite on our mettle."

* Yorkshire and Leicestershire chased bonus points on the final day of their rain-wrecked match, which finished with honours even.

Both managed three bowling and two batting points, plus four points for the draw - a result which keeps Yorkshire fourth in the table and within distance of third-placed Hampshire who they meet tomorrow at the Rose Bowl.

After ending the Leicestershite first innings on 283, Yorkshire set about their task with vigour, Matthew Wood and Phil Jaques putting on 58 for the first wicket before the Australian fell lbw for 30.

Phil DeFreitas belied his 38 years with an energetic 13-over spell in which he picked up the next three wickets to fall. He flattened Chris Taylor's stumps and laid a trap for Darren Lehmann who flicked high to deep backward square leg.

But Wood proved much more difficult to shift, reaching his fourth consecutive Championship half-century with some crisp strokes, and he had gone on to 63 off 89 balls when he drilled DeFreitas to Brad Hodge at short extra cover to make Yorkshire 140 for four.

The challenge was taken up by Michael Lumb in a stand of 70 with Simon Guy which brought Yorkshire the first of their batting bonus points.

After Guy and Richard Dawson had helped add useful runs, it was left to Lumb to attempt to get Yorkshire to 300 and a third batting point but at 274 he tried to pull Cleary for six only to be caught on the mid-wicket boundary.

* There was good news yesterday when Craig White's scan revealed his hamstring injury was not as bad as first feared and he may now be fit for action again in just over a fortnight.

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