GREG Blewett yesterday found an unwelcome way to reward Durham's new coach Martyn Moxon as he scored 133 on his Nottinghamshire debut.

Moxon spent hours trying to coax runs out of Blewett for Yorkshire two years ago but had to wait until yesterday to see the class which brought the Australian centuries in his first two Tests against England.

Blewett admitted afterwards: "At Yorkshire my game was nowhere near what it should have been. It was not so much the wickets or the conditions, it was just that I was batting poorly.

"I have learnt from my mistakes with regard to technique and know my game a lot better now. It's a case of staying balanced and side-on."

Ominously for Durham, he added: "I didn't feel I batted all that well," which was another way of saying the bowling was nothing special.

In fact, the seamers toiled laboriously until the 77th over before the introduction of Michael Gough's off-spin brought almost instant reward.

In his second over he had Blewett stumped by Andrew Pratt, but it was much too late to rekindle Durham's hopes of victory.

On a pleasant day the pitch offered less for the seamers and it was clear that unless Blewett could get Nottinghamshire 100 in front by the close the game would struggle to make up for the loss of 108 overs.

In fact, a further 14 overs were lost to bad light but Nottinghamshire had not given up hope and with 12 overs left on the resumption Chris Read and Paul Franks emerged to brighten to gloom with some dazzling play.

They added a further 59 to take their stand to 91 and the hosts finished on 344 for six, leading by 60 going into the final day with more showers forecast.

Durham never looked like getting into a position to win from the moment Blewett pulled the second ball of the day from Steve Harmison to the mid-wicket boundary.

It set the tone for a disappointing display from the bowlers, with Danny Law the exception as he performed much better than against Gloucestershire.

Harmison got four or five balls past the bat but was generally well off beam in his first two overs before improving in the third, while Neil Killeen appeared to be struggling with a back problem and lacked his usual zip.

Blewett made one century in compiling 655 championship runs for Yorkshire, but they were always full of admiration for his dedicated approach.

His centuries against England came at Adelaide and Perth on the 1994-95 tour and he played in 46 Tests before he was discarded, although he still has an Australian Cricket Board contract.

Durham's Martin Love must be sick of the sight of him as Blewett scored 260 not out when South Australia followed on against Queensland before Love's team went on to their recent Pura Cup triumph.

It was not quite a flawless display yesterday. Just after reaching 50 off 85 balls Blewett drove airily at James Brinkley without making contact and on 87 he survived a sharp return chance to Paul Collingwood.

He would have been run out on 100 had a shy from short mid-wicket hit the stumps and there was a similar incident with his score on 128.

But by that stage he was showing signs of losing concentration and he failed to connect with two loose drives at Harmison just before he was out. Gough beat him in the flight in his first over and in his next Blewett advanced to drive then tried to adjust and missed, falling prey to Pratt's smart work.

He had batted for just over five hours, hitting 21 fours off 237 balls, and while he was always strong off his legs his straight drives were also a feature, as were the square drives for four off successive balls from Collingwood immediately after the return chance.

The second wicket stand with acting captain Darren Bicknell was worth 115 when Law deservedly struck in his third over.

He had already seen Bicknell edge him between the slips when he swung one in to have the left-hander lbw for 34.

Pakistan-born Usman Afzaal, the only English-qualified player under 26 to score 1,000 runs last season, played well for 20 then nicked a ball from Killeen on to his pads only to see it loop to gully, where Gough took the catch.

The experienced Paul Johnson also fell when well set, trying to chip Law over mid-wicket only to be caught at mid-on.

Brinkley had Kevin Pietersen lbw for two, Blewett went shortly afterwards but there was no further success as Read and Franks scampered quick singles and firmly put away the loose balls after he break for bad light.

With six overs left and the light fading again, Durham brought back Harmison and Killeen and took the new ball. But the runs flowed all the faster and it was clear that only one side thought they could still win.