DURHAM coach Martyn Moxon yesterday pleaded for patience as he pursues what he remains convinced is a very bright future for the club.

In his second season with Durham after quitting Yorkshire, Moxon has reached the halfway stage with his team propping up division two of the championship and division one of the National League.

Following the washout of the third day's play at Northampton yesterday, it seems certain that Durham will record their fourth draw from eight games, having lost the other four.

"Results have been disappointing," admitted Moxon. "But I'm genuinely excited about the future and I just hope everyone connected with the club will have the patience to wait for this team to mature.

"I don't want to be sitting here in three years still saying the same, but in two years I would like to think we will have a competitive side. And once they become competitive they will remain so for a number of years.

"I saw a lot of potential last season and wanted to give the young players an opportunity this year. As a club we have gone down that policy route and we have learnt a lot.

"My only concern is that it's very hard to develop as a player if you are not winning any games.

"But the spirit is good and the players showed a lot of character in beating Worcestershire last Sunday after what happened in the championship game.

"The dilemma is how long do you keep going with a youth policy? But I have seen a lot of positive signs this season and I'm convinced we are moving forward."

Moxon, however, feels Durham should give serious consideration to signing a second overseas player for next season if the policy is not overturned.

He admitted that finances might dictate that an extra overseas man, who will not come cheaper than £50,000, will mean two fewer local lads are retained on the staff.

But that might not be a difficult decision unless some of those currently in the struggling second team start to perform more consistently.

Some players who have a lot of first team experience find it difficult to lift themselves for second team cricket, but Moxon said: "I have always stressed that they have to treat the second X1 as though it is the first team.

"They need to be in the best possible form to come in and perform if they are needed for any reason.

"It's unfortunate there is not much second team cricket at the moment when people are coming back after injury. We are trying to organise fixtures between ourselves.

"At the end of the season we have to take stock and look at where we need to strengthen. If quality players were available we would look at signing them if we thought they would strengthen the team.

"I have spoken to counties who have been signing players on EU passports and they see it as a means of strengthening weak areas. My worry about that is how many are we going to have? Where does it end?

"At Durham we believe if we are putting money into the academy we have to give the lads the opportunity and there have been some very encouraging signs this season.

"Gordon Muchall has done very well, and when you watch Gary Pratt bat you can see immense talent. He just has to learn to turn his good starts into big scores.

"When we suddenly found ourselves without Martin Love and Paul Collingwood we decided to throw Marc Symington in and see how he coped at No 5. There have been times when he has shown there is something there.

"He stood up to Allan Donald well and batted very well against the two spinners here at Northampton, where they have done serious work on the pitch to help the spinners.

"Mark Davies had done really well in four-day cricket, Ian Hunter's action is much stronger and he is starting to grow in confidence, Graeme Bridge has bowled consistently well and Nicky Hatch will get better and better."

There will be setbacks in any young player's development, and Moxon is confident that Stephen Harmison has the right attitude to come out of his current trough, while he believes Nicky Peng is showing signs of a return to form.

"Experience teaches you to know what to expect and how to get out of it when things are not going so well," he said.

"Even Tendullkar had a rough patch before his century on Thursday, and Nicky is showing signs of coming through his. It will be good experience for him."

It was hoped to start at 2.30 yesterday, then after further rain it was announced there would be another pitch inspection at 5pm.

But at 4.40 it rained again and hope of play was abandoned.

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