AFTER losing the toss, the first morning of championship action was one of toil for Durham in bright, blustery conditions at Taunton.

Their only success was to remove Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick as the hosts took advantage of a double Dutch connection to reach 89 for one at lunch.

After Trescothick was caught at first slip by Paul Collingwood off Graham Onions for 11, Australia-born Holland international Tom Cooper shared an unbroken stand of 59 with Johann Myburgh, whose brother Stephan has also played for Holland.

As is often the case at Taunton, the pitch was deceptively green but offered little assistance and the bowlers struggled for penetration.

It seemed they had a chance to make inroads when Cooper came in and made a scratchy start, getting off the mark when he shaped to turn Onions to leg and got a leading edge through extra cover.

Myburgh edged Onions at waist height just wide of gully on 12 and on 34 he was missed in that position by Callum MacLeod after slicing a drive off Collingwood.

Myburgh was on 42 at lunch with Cooper on 30.