THE Rose Bowl was full of thorns for Durham yesterday as they made a dispiriting start to their County Championship programme.

While Hampshire are obviously simmering nicely under the captaincy of Shane Warne, under-cooked Durham were all out for 128 and the hosts replied with 195 for five.

The bustling Mark Davies took three of the wickets but could make no impression on outstanding young Aussie Michael Clarke, who put the rest of the day's batting into perspective with a sparkling unbeaten 73

As the sun shone down on a shirt-sleeved crowd of 3,000 - at least doubled by Warne - it was impossible not to reflect that southern counties are at an advantage in having more opportunity of pre-season outdoor work.

To add to the frustrations which have built up at a soggy Riverside, there was further bad news for Durham from overseas.

Shoaib Akhtar suffered a back injury in Pakistan's final Test against India and will need two weeks to recover. It was hoped he would make his first appearance for Durham on April 25, but he will not now arrive until the end of the month.

A problem has also arisen over the registration of West Indian all-rounder Gareth Breese, who was signed last September on the basis that he qualified as a non-overseas player through British parentage.

"Lord's originally gave him clearance, otherwise we would not have signed him," said coach Martyn Moxon.

"His qualification seems to have been queried at a recent registration meeting at Lord's and now the West Indies have cast doubt on it.

"Gareth was registered by Jamaica as an overseas player during their season and they have documentary evidence to prove it. But the West Indies board now say they have never had such a situation.

"It's very frustrating that this has raised its ugly head now when before it was not an issue. But I am confident it will be sorted out within a few days and it gives Gareth a bit more time to recover fully from his broken arm.

"It's improving daily but he still has pain from any shots which involve any twisting of the arm."

The only two batsmen to get established yesterday, Marcus North and Nicky Peng, were both out unluckily and Durham were particularly upset about umpire Tony Clarkson's lbw decision which cut down Peng for 49.

The ball cut back sharply and flicked Peng's pad on its way over the stumps to the wicketkeeper, prompting Moxon to observe: "Umpiring is not an easy job, but that was a poor decision.

"Nicky had done what we are trying to get him to do in working really hard and building an innings and it was very disappointing for him to be out like that."

North also grafted hard for his 29 off 84 balls, but his eagerness to get after Warne probably contributed to his downfall.

Left-hander North had clipped the only two fours in the first 26 overs through the leg side before Warne came on, then promptly lofted the leg-spinner's third ball for a straight four.

North failed to connect with two attempted slog/sweeps and when he went to drive a ball well wide of off stump it hit a foot-hole, bounced more than expected and provided a comfortable catch to backward point.

North hit five fours and Peng seven in his impressive innings, while Gavin Hamilton got off the mark by sweeping Warne for four. But the only other person to find the boundary was Liam Plunkett in his 15 not out.

Durham had chosen to bat on a blameless pitch, and while Hampshire's bowling was very disciplined the visiting batsmen's lack of form was highlighted in the final 90 minutes by Clarke.

The 22-year-old New South Wales batsman has been described as the best young Aussie player since Ricky Ponting by Warne, and it was easy to see why.

He was off the mark first ball by turning Davies past square leg for four and hit ten more high-class boundaries in scorching to 50 off 38 balls.

For someone whose only previous experience of English conditions was a season with Ramsbottom, he looked amazingly comfortable.

The same could not be said of Jon Lewis and Gordon Muchall, who have yet to show any sign of form and were back in the hutch inside seven overs with Durham on six for two.

They reached a relatively prosperous 83 for four at lunch, but three wickets went down for five runs in the first four overs after the break after Hamilton clipped to mid-wicket.

Peng and Plunkett put on 35 before the umpires ensured a swift end, with Peter Willey giving out last man Reon King with indecent haste when well forward to the pleading Warne.

Warne took only the two wickets but also pouched three catches at second slip as Hampshire clung on to everything, with Dimitri Mascarenhas' low return catch to dismiss Andrew Pratt being the best.

Whether Durham will ask South Northumberland to release King for an extra week in Shoaib's absence remains to be seen. He was unimpressive in his first spell, but came back to end the onslaught after Clarke and John Crawley had put on 85 in 14 overs.

Crawley sliced to point and in King's next over Will Kendall edged to Muchall at second slip.

Although Plunkett got past the bat a few times in a good opening spell, Durham needed Davies to take the first two wickets after an opening stand of 55.

North took a juggling catch at first slip when Derek Kenway edged a forcing back-foot shot then former Durham University batsman Michael Brown, who has moved from Middlesex, edged to Andrew Pratt.

Gavin Hamilton bowled reassuringly straight, but appeared to be struggling with a knee problem from early in his spell and bowled only six overs.

Davies came back to have Nic Pothas lbw late in the day and even got past Clarke in the final over. But unless Durham remove him early today they will be totally out of this match.

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