DURHAM are to retain Marcus North for the full season and have called Vince Wells out of retirement to join the squad for the championship match against Essex starting at Riverside today.

They will also hand a debut to Pakistani paceman Tahir Mughal, although they hope he will be needed as cover for Shoaib Akhtar for only one match.

Depending on the whims of Duncan Fletcher, there is also a chance that Paul Collingwood will be available to bolster the injury-ravaged squad for the next game at Taunton, starting on Wednesday.

Wells will be on standby in case of any more injuries, but today's team is likely to show only one change from that which lost the C & G Trophy second round tie against Sussex by 22 runs at Riverside yesterday.

Tahir will come in for Alan Walker, who tore a calf muscle when the game started on Wednesday but batted with a runner in a heroic effort to salvage a lost cause.

Walker went in at 175 for nine in the 45th over and thrashed 23 not out off 15 balls in a stand of 48 in four overs.

It was never quite going to be enough, but it was certainly entertaining until Neil Killeen was run out by a direct hit from backward square leg with two balls left.

It was another modest performance from the top order after Durham had given themselves a chance by taking Sussex's last seven wickets for 39 runs.

Not for the first time this season, Andrew Pratt was top scorer with a spirited 44, otherwise only North and Gareth Breese scored runs with any fluency until the last pair hit four fours each.

There was a vast improvement from medium pacer Ian Pattison, who followed figures of 3-0-26-0 on Wednesday with 7-1-19-3 yesterday.

He began by having left-hander Ian Ward brilliantly caught one-handed by North at mid-on after adding only seven to his overnight 47. Visiting skipper Chris Adams then put on 73 with Murray Goodwin, who was deceived by the off spin of Breese when he went down the pitch and was bowled for 47.

Breese was driven for the three sixes Adams hit in making 68 off 70 balls before three batsmen in quick succession were caught at the wicket by Pratt.

Pattison found some extra bounce to have Adams out cutting and took his third wicket when Robin Martin-Jenkins miscued a pull.

The slide continued when Gordon Muchall ran out Mark Davis, who was overtaken by the ball on the way to the striker's end after Muchall shied at the other stumps.

Pratt claimed a fourth vicitm, despite a fumble as he stumped Mushtaq Ahmed off North, whose off-spin earned a second wicket when Jason Lewry drove to substitute Alex Roberts at long-on.

North would have rivalled Adams for Man of the Match had he batted a little longer. But after making 30 of Durham's first 46 runs, including four successive fours off Mohammad Akram, he sliced a drive to backward point.

As Nicky Peng had gone in the first over and Jon Lewis followed for ten, North's exit left Durham with little hope and they went 30 overs without hitting a boundary.

Breese kept sweeping Mushtaq sweetly to boundary fielders, but at least his 25 kept Durham afloat until he was run out when Muchall played the ball square on the off side and declined to run.

Muchall continued to look out of touch and had been in for 15 overs for 18 before square driving Akram for four, only to edge an attempted upper cut to the keeper off the next ball.

By that time Durham were well behind the clock as well as having only three wickets left.

Pratt drove medium pacer Kevin Innes over extra cover for six but in looking for another big hit he lobbed a catch to mid-wicket.

Pattison and Mark Davies miscued attempted pulls, bringing in Walker with Muchall as his runner for the final flourish.