DURHAM'S dreadful one-day form continued yesterday when they lost their C & G Trophy fourth round tie against Gloucestershire at Bristol by eight wickets.

The absence of Martin Love and Paul Collingwood proved too big a handicap against a side with so much one-day expertise, who sped to their target of 180 with 24 overs to spare.

For the umpteenth time this season, Durham's home-bred youngsters were on the receiving end from an import with an EU passport.

Former New Zealand Test player Craig Spearman, whose mother comes from Swansea, won the man-of-the-match award after cracking 104 not out; his second 50 coming off a mere 23 balls as he treated demoralised bowlers with contempt. Going for his strokes is apparently the only way Spearman knows how to play, but he certainly adds one-day clout to a side who could afford to leave out Jeremy Snape on the day he was named with Collingwood in the England one-day squad.

Spearman quickly ruined Nicky Phillips' return to the Durham team, taking 17 off his second over, including three successive fours to reach 50 off 52 balls.

His ten boundaries at that stage had all come from good, orthodox strokes off front and back foot, but he then widened his repertoire to include the reverse sweep.

Durham by that stage didn't know where to bowl to him and after picking up Marc Symington for four over square leg he pulled the next ball behind square for six with little more than a short-arm jab.

After Phillips went for 32 in three overs, Graeme Bridge tightened things up slightly but by then it was too late, and with Symington then Mark Davies being repeatedly clipped through the leg side Spearman scorched to his century.

Laudable though Durham's home-grown policy may be, at this rate they will have no option but to switch to "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" in order to become competitive. Things went well for half an hour as Jon Lewis won the toss and the opening pair of Gary Pratt and Nicky Peng played several handsome strokes.

Pratt looked particularly impressive, but with the total on 27 in the ninth over he nicked a good away swinger from left-armer Mike Smith to first slip.

In the next over Gordon Muchall kept trying to work Ian Harvey behind square on the off side and finally steered one into the hands of Chris Taylor at gully. It was asking a lot of Symington to come in at 30 for two, but after being dropped at point on 14 he did his job well in a supporting role to Lewis in a fourth wicket stand of 59.

Once Lewis, Andrew Pratt and Danny Law had gone, however, there was little left and the need to take command saw Symington fall for the top score of 34, driving a slower ball from Mark Alleyne tamely to mid-off in the 42nd over.

Other than at the start, the only time Durham threatened a competitive total was when Law struck 24 off 23 balls with four fours.

Coming in at 111 for five in the 35th over, he quickly decided he couldn't afford much time to play himself in, but in lofting a catch to long-on with ten overs left he would not have pleased the management. Peng showed signs of a return to form before he fell to the first ball from medium pacer Mark Hardinges. Going neither forward nor back, he missed an attempted pull and was adjudged lbw to one which might have gone over the top.

Lewis played well for 31 before he became the first of four victims for the wily Alleyne, getting an inside edge into his stumps when trying to run the ball to third man.

Lewis was furious with himself as he must have sensed the game was almost up for Durham. Andrew Pratt was stumped down the leg side by Jack Russell and after Law's brief flurry the flimsy tail could do no more than eke out whatever runs were available before Durham were all out for 179 with 2.3 overs unused.

Hopes of defending the total did not exactly soar when Neil Killeen's second ball flew wide down the leg side to the boundary. Spearman then cracked him over point for four and there was no respite when Killeen rattled Kim Barnett's off stump.

That merely brought in Harvey, who drove the next ball through extra cover for four and added five more boundaries in thrashing 27 off 18 balls before he edged Law to Andrew Pratt.

Spearman played second fiddle during that little stand of 41 in five overs, but then took complete command, although Taylor was also joining in the fun by the end, pulling Davies for six in reaching 29 not out.

It was all a far cry from Durham's three-run win at Bristol at the same stage last season, and with the season less than halfway through all that remains is to learn as much as possible about which of their youngsters have both the ability and the bottle to make the grade