Few signs of fun at the Festival

Perhaps they ought to visit Scarborough in three weeks to find the answer because bringing this festival to a soulless new venue yesterday inspired no-one, least of all Durham.

After choosing to bat they were dismissed for 196 and Essex found it equally hard work as they reached 107 for five at the close with highly-rated former England Under-19 opener Alistair Cook the day's top scorer on 47 not out.

Australian Mick Lewis took four of the wickets and inspirational field placing played a part as he had home skipper Ronnie Irani caught at short cover and James Foster at short leg shortly after both fielders had been positioned there.

Durham will be able to draft in Paul Collingwood today after England decided they could manage without him after all.

Nicky Peng was nominated as the man to stand down should Collingwood become available, but if Peng was determined to make his mark on the game it wasn't readily apparent.

He was out for a duck, probably wondering why he was expected to make runs at untested Garons Park after he had been left out on the excellent batting tracks at Derby and Taunton.

While the fall of 15 wickets on the first day normally prompts an obligatory call to Lord's by the umpires, pitch inspector Tony Pigott said that would not be necessary as he had witnessed the day's events and was happy with the pitch.

Work on this ground began at roughly the same time as at Riverside. It is a couple of miles inland in a bleak landscape on the edge of town and is the home to Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre.

Club cricket is no longer played here but there are ambitious plans to turn it into a Centre of Cricketing Excellence with a £200,000 public appeal being launched to help the project.

There were inevitably concerns about how the pitch would play, and Peng must have quickly realised that it wasn't in the same league as Ilford, where four years ago he scored a Sunday League century.

Essex don't go to Ilford any more but the Southend Festival committee and the borough council are determined to keep them coming to a resort which makes Blackpool look upmarket.

A crowd of around 2,000 turned up, many no doubt attracted by the novelty of seeing the first day's play at a new venue. It was not particularly memorable.

Efforts had obviously been made, one of the more impressive features being a real-ale tent, but without a pitch on which runs might flow it will continue to seem rather pointless.

No batsman looked comfortable. Gordon Muchall top-scored for Durham with 37, but was beaten three times in one over by Graham Napier in the 20s. And Napier, playing his first match since May, was just one of the modest back-up bowlers in an attack in which Andre Adams and Danish Kaneria were the threats.

Darren Gough was missing with a back problem, so there was a lack of depth in the home attack. But with wickets falling regularly as Durham slumped from 80 for one, with Adams putting in a long spell, it didn't really matter.

Seam movement brought plenty of edged catches on a day when there were no lbws and the only person bowled was Liam Plunkett, off a big inside edge.

After recent rain, topped up overnight, it seemed moisture might be to blame for Durham's struggle to 87 for four in 37 overs at lunch. Things briefly looked easier after the break as Dale Benkenstein worked off-spinner James Middlebrook through mid-wicket and drove him high over long-on for six.

Things could have been worse for Durham as Benkenstein was almost out second ball, when he clipped Middlebrook to mid-wicket, where Adams half-heartedly claimed a catch he appeared to take on the half volley. The batsman stood his ground, the umpires consulted and decided he was not out.

Benkenstein made 36 before his forward defensive stroke to a good ball from Adams resulted in one of four catches for wicketkeeper James Foster, who also had the simple task of stumping Phil Mustard.

The Durham keeper made 17 off 16 balls, including two sweetly off-driven fours off Adams, before dancing down the pitch to Kaneria as though preparing for an evening in a seafront nightclub.

Opener Gary Scott was the longest survivor for Durham, facing 86 balls for his 19. There was nothing wrong with that as he showed he was prepared to battle, but when he shaped to drive a ball which wasn't quite there for the shot he sliced to gully.

Cook played the same role for Essex, scoring only ten in his first 21 overs at the crease before he began to blossom with some attractive strokes.

Lewis had Grant Flower and Ravinder Bopara caught by Mustard, then in Benkenstein's first over Andy Flower carelessly cut to Scott at backward point.

When Lewis returned for a second spell, Scott was posted at short cover for Irani, who obliged by popping up a catch.

Finally Foster was very well held by Muchall at short leg off bat and pad off a quicker ball by the skiddy Lewis, who had four for 37 in 12 overs while the other three frontline seamers went unrewarded.

* Matthew Wood and Joe Sayers went run crazy against Bangladesh A at Headingley yesterday before Yorkshire declared on 357 for two in 80 overs on the first day of the three-day match, writes David Warner.

The openers put on 272 - Yorkshire's highest first-wicket stand since Craig White and Wood plundered 309 in the Roses match at Old Trafford in 2002.

Wood remained unbeaten on 202 off 252 balls with 28 fours and two sixes after registering the third first-class double century of his career, while Sayers cracked 115 off 201 balls with 16 fours and a six. Sayers had some luck early on when he was put down three times and Wood survived a chance to slip on 95.