STEPHEN Harmison rejoined the Durham squad in Nottingham yesterday and now knows he must work on his batting, as well as the accuracy of his bowling, if he is to have an England future.

Following his encouraging debut at Trent Bridge, he was left out for the second successive Test yesterday as England opted for the superior batting of Alex Tudor.

"He is disappointed because he did OK on his debut," said Durham coach Martyn Moxon.

"But we have said to all our lower order they have to get runs and if Stephen can start getting 15-20 regularly it will help his cause.

"Matthew Hoggard has had a few decent scores and it makes a big difference if you can take part in a good partnership."

From the Durham side which beat Nottinghamshire in Wednesday night's floodlit game, Harmison will replace Mark Davies, who has a groin injury.

Moxon is also considering giving Ian Pattison a second championship outing, which would probably have to be at the expense of Marc Symington.

Pattison played in the disaster against Glamorgan last month, when he scored six and nought and took no wickets.

But it would be unfair to judge him on that one performance, as Ashley Thorpe also made an inauspicious championship debut in that match and has since grown in confidence.

"Ashley played really well on Wednesday night," said Moxon. "He has had a difficult season in the seconds and it was tough psychologically for him to come in and play in the firsts. Confidence probably had a lot to do with his poor start and we hope the more he plays the better he's going to get.

"All three spinners we used on Wednesday also did well, so unless the pitch is really dry we probably won't need Graeme Bridge."

Symington has played in eight of Durham's last nine championship matches, so they should by now have seen enough to decide whether to extend his contract.

A decision also has to be taken about Pattison and Chris Mann, who was given a one-year deal, while the three others out of contract appear to be safe, with the likely exception of Simon Brown.

Durham could be influenced by whether or not Harmison and Paul Collingwood are handed England contracts next Tuesday, and will not make their final decisions until then.

Durham (from): N C Phillips (capt), M A Gough, G J Pratt, B J Hodge, G J Muchall, A M Thorpe, A Pratt, I Pattison, I D Hunter, N Killeen, S J Harmison, M J Symington, G D Bridge.

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