AS they come to terms with the absence of Martin Love for up to six weeks, Durham must also contemplate the loss of Paul Collingwood and Gordon Muchall on England duty.

Providing he has proved his recovery from a knee injury, Collingwood seems certain to be named on Wednesday in the squad for the one-day internationals against India and Sri Lanka, starting on June 27.

He will miss the championship matches at Worcester and Northampton, plus the visit of Derbyshire to Darlington if England reach the final.

While Durham are resigned to this, they are not happy about the prospect of Muchall being in the Under 19 squad for three Tests and three one-day matches against India, starting on July 27.

He could miss three championship games and skipper Jon Lewis said: "We would be upset about that. It's ridiculous to take someone out of the first-class game to play Under 19 cricket. Gordon must have learnt an awful lot from facing Allan Donald."

DOWNING Street may be cutting back on spin, but Durham are not. They had another visit last week from former Australia off-spinner Ashley Mallett, with whom Nicky Phillips and Graeme Bridge are becoming quite familiar.

They visited him Down Under during the winter and Jon Lewis said: "They enjoy working with him.

"He has got them thinking about it a lot more and they have definitely improved and gained in confidence.

"He knows his stuff inside out and is keen to pass it on, and he also talks to me about where the spinners should be bowling and where their fields need to be."

IT was a tough choice, but we in the Press box opted for Gordon Muchall narrowly ahead of Mark Davies as Durham's Player of the Month for May.

He had the choice of a men's or ladies' Corum Bubble watch, valued at £1,200, which was presented by Alan Harman of Goldsmiths yesterday.

Davies is the leading bowler with 22 first-class wickets, while Muchall's last four championship innings have brought him 77,52,127 and 46 to follow his 69 against Sri Lanka.

AS the man who knows the game - modesty is my only fault - I was able to astound a visiting colleague when he announced that Allan Donald was the first bowler for eight years to take five wickets in an innings on his Worcestershire championship debut.

"Who was the last?" he asked. "James Brinkley," I correctly guessed, recalling that the six for 32 he took on his Durham debut against Gloucestershire last year bettered his previous best of six for whatever on his Worcestershire debut.

Brinkley, signed when Durham lost Melvyn Betts and John Wood, is still on the staff. But he has had some injury trouble and has not been seen in the first team this season.

Donald has only two one-day games left during his stint as Andy Bichel's deputy for Worcestershire before returning to play club cricket for Knowle and Dorridge in the Birmingham League.

But he could be back at the Riverside on August 7 with Lashings, the Kent village side who have blossomed into an international cavaliers X1.

Although nothing is certain with Brian Lara, it has been confirmed that he will be in the Lashings team for the 45-overs-a-side match against Durham, who hope to attract a crowd of at least 5,000.

BARBOUR jackets are more likely to be associated with shooting parties and picnics in the Twickenham car park than cricket, but 35 salesmen who visited the Riverside yesterday were delighted to hear that their product had been put to the test at the ground on Wednesday.

J Barbour and Sons, based at South Shields, invited members of their sales teams from all over Europe and the USA to the Dynamos v Royals match as a prelude to their annual sales conference.

The company donated 40 stewards' jackets to Durham to comply with Test match requirements, and they apparently stood the test wonderfully well during the enormous hailstorm which delayed Wednesday's start.

WHO put the jest in Jesty? Durham certainly don't know the answer to that one as umpire Trevor Jesty never brings a smile to their faces. His track record of poor decisions against them continued with his failure to give out Graeme Hick when he looked absolutely plumb to Nicky Hatch on Wednesday, but he had little hesitation in giving out Jon Lewis to Allan Donald's first ball, which appeared to brush the Durham captain's sleeve.

"You must be jesting," would have been the appropriate response, strictly under the breath, of course