THE washout at Derby yesterday spelt frustration for Durham wicketkeeper Phil Mustard, who was hoping to convert his 33 not out into his first substantial score.

While unveiling an impressive range of flamboyant strokes, he has reached 20 in seven of his 11 championship innings, but has yet to get beyond the 49 he made against Northants before being run out.

Although he acknowledges that he is not as good a wicketkeeper as Andrew Pratt, the 20-year-old left-hander has been preferred for the last seven weeks because Pratt was not scoring the required runs.

"It has been a pleasure just to watch Andrew keeping wicket in the last two one-day games when I have played just as a batsman," said Mustard, known as Colonel by his teammates after the Cleudo character.

"But I'm happy with my own progress and it will be a great opportunity if I go to the ECB Academy this winter.

"At the start of the season I thought if I could get into the first team I might have a chance of an Academy place, but it was still a surprise to be named on the provisional list.

"It's a shame we'll be the first batch to be based in Loughborough rather than Adelaide, but it should be a good environment with all the specialists around to help us."

With the Academy director Rod Marsh having been a wicketkeeper himself, Mustard stands to learn a lot about an art he took up five years ago.

As the third of four brothers - the eldest, Alan, plays for Sunderland - he watched his father playing at Hylton CW in the Durham Coast League and took up wicketkeeping almost by accident.

"I started playing for Hylton at ten or 11, but I fancied myself as a bit of a bowler," he said.

"One of my brothers kept for the under 18s, but one day he had a bad knee so I took the gloves.

"It was supposed to be for just one game, but I've done it ever since."

Mustard, who played in three one-day internationals for England Under 19s, went to Usworth Comprehensive School.

But there was very little cricket there and it was through his exploits for Hylton that he got into the Durham Schools team and progressed from there into the Durham Academy.

He had already been down a similar route with football, having been spotted by a Manchester United scout playing for a team in Washington called Stella Maris at the age of ten.

"They had a School of Excellence in Durham and I trained twice a week there until I was 13, then I was released and Middlesbrough picked me up," he said.

"I was with them for three years, which is why it says in the Durham handbook that I'm a Boro fan.

"I'm from Sunderland and I've supported them since I was a kid.

"I don't get the chance to play football any more because I spent six months in Melbourne last winter playing club cricket.

"I got a job as a painter and decorator, played cricket at weekends and trained with them twice a week. I batted in the top three, so I learnt a bit about playing against the new ball."

Although he had shown some batting pedigree in making 75 in his only first-class innings against Sri Lanka last season, an average of 31.43 in the seconds last year was hardly enough to suggest he could oust the highly-rated Pratt.

But after making a top score of 27 in the first four championship matches, Pratt was sent to Blackpool in the hope of finding some batting form in a four-day Second X1 Championship match which clashed with the C & G fourth round tie at home to Lancashire.

Mustard was sent in to open and drove at his first ball from James Anderson well wide of off stump and edged it to Andrew Flintoff at second slip.

"I saw it well enough and just tried to hit it," he said.

"I was given licence to play my shots, but after that I felt under pressure as a one-day opener because I didn't want to get out for a duck again and lose my place.

"I got pretty confused about it, but the coach told me to relax and play my natural game.

"I enjoyed my 60-odd in the Twenty20 at Old Trafford, but dropping down the one-day order recently seems to have paid off."

Going in at 26 for five in the floodlit game at Hove on Tuesday, he changed the game by making 32 out of a stand of 36 with Gordon Muchall, but has yet to experience the satisfaction of steering the team to victory.

"The highlight for me so far has been beating Yorkshire last week," he said.

"I enjoyed getting the target down from 70-odd to 20, but I would have liked to be there at the end.

"We should have won at Worcester, but I was bowled by a shooter there and I've been unlucky to be run out a couple of times.

"I just hope I get the chance to add a few more runs here."

After reaching 434 for seven, their biggest total since June 1 last year, the weather threatens to thwart Durham's bid for a second successive win as more showers are forecast for today.