A FOOTBALL reporter would have asked the manager at close of play: "What did you say to your players at half-time?"

Durham coach Martyn Moxon is not given to loud verbals; in any case under the latest nonsense from the European Court of Human Rights he could be prosecuted for child abuse if he shouted at his young charges.

Perhaps all that was needed was a reminder that it was an insult to the groundsman to be dismissed for 116 on such a good Riverside pitch.

Whatever was said, its impact was greatly helped by some poor bowling from Nottinghamshire when Durham followed on 246 behind.

The transformation was extraordinary as in four overs each from Greg Smith and Andrew Harris Durham scorched to 66 without loss and went on to reach 184 for two before bad light ended play.

New overseas man Brad Hodge, top scorer in the first innings with 21, showed his class by making 42 not out and shared a stand of 112 with Jon Lewis.

The skipper played on for 70, one short of his highest score of the season, just before the final 14 overs were lost to the gloom.

A big factor in the turn-around was that Lewis's luck simply had to change. Since being given out caught off his sleeve off Allan Donald six weeks ago barely an innings has gone by without he has fallen to a dubious decision or an outstanding catch.

Lewis had looked in good form as he and Gary Pratt put on 34 in the first innings before both looked surprised to be adjudged lbw, sparking the calamitous collapse.

Second time around, Lewis enjoyed the early spree with Pratt, then rode the kind of fortune which had been so conspicuously lacking.

He almost played on a couple of times, two of his boundaries resulted from sloppy fielding, a huge shout for lbw was turned down and he reached his 50 with a four through the slips.

There were good shots as well, although probably nothing better than the glorious square drive for four with which he began the day.

In the first eight overs there was no sign of the carnage to come, but then Pratt played forward down the line of leg stump to Harris and was given out by Barrie Leadbeater.

Hodge was off the mark sixth ball with a confident off-drive for two off Harris, but then left-armer Smith brought one back in to have Lewis lbw.

In both innings Smith, a South African with a British passport, bowled too short with the new ball but looked much more threatening later on, finishing the first innings with four for 24, having conceded 17 runs before taking a wicket.

He claimed Lewis's scalp at the start of that witching hour around midday when a rise in temperatures usually helps the ball to swing at the Riverside.

But this in itself could not excuse the procession which followed as five batsmen fell to edged catches, most of them hanging their bats out with little thought for stopping the rot through sheer dogged survival.

Marc Symington was an exception as he lost his middle stump first ball to Northants reject Richard Logan.

As Symington was not among the five seamers used on Wednesday, it would seem he is playing in this match purely as a batsman, which represents quite a snub to Michael Gough and Jimmy Daley.

Paul Collingwood took three fours off Logan's first over, only to find that the bowler immediately found an extra yard of pace.

The England one-day man survived a big shout for lbw in the next over then pushed forward at the next and edged to wicketkeeper Chris Read.

After Andrew Pratt edged to second slip, Hodge's 83-minute vigil ended when he tried to turn Paul Franks to mid-wicket off the back foot and got a leading edge to mid-on.

If lunch was unpalatable at 99 for six, things quickly got worse. Danny Law, still two places too low at seven in this line-up, looked comfortable enough until he fell carelessly in the second over after the break, chipping Smith to mid-wicket.

Nicky Phillips, a compulsive dabbler outside off stump, edged a four just out of third slip's reach before giving second slip Nicky Boje more catching practice.

And so it went on until Durham were dismissed for their lowest championship total since making 102 in their second innings at Edgbaston in May last year.

No sooner had Durham come out to bat again than they accepted an offer of bad light and two of the five warning lights were still shining when play resumed at 3pm with six overs lost. The light barely improved for the rest of the day, but the gloom hanging over the Durham team lifted as the ball kept flying to the boundary. Although one of them flew over the slips, Gary Pratt's last eight scoring strokes were all fours and he managed to rattle Harris.

After being cracked to the cover boundary, off front and back foot, from the first two balls of the eighth over Harris delivered a bouncer and followed up with a few verbals.

The next ball was lashed through point for four and when Pratt played the last ball of the over back to Harris the former Derbyshire man flung it back at him.

Not surprisingly, he had to endure some stick from the Durham fans as he made his way back to fine leg, but his replacement by Logan brought a breakthrough as Pratt played on off his gloves for 42, made off 38 balls.

At 95 for one after 15 overs, the visitors finally turned to the left-arm spin of Boje, their South African Test player, which helped to lift their funereal over-rate.

While Lewis was tied down after reaching 50 off 74 balls, Hodge proved equally at ease against spin, with a cut for four off Boje being especially memorable.

Durham still trail by 62 runs, and much will depend on Hodge's partnership with Collingwood this morning.