MARK Davies will make only his second championship appearance since his back problem surfaced in July, 2005, in Durham's match against Warwickshire starting at Edgbaston today.

Gordon Muchall also rejoins the squad after making a century for the A team against Lancashire last week, when Davies proved his readiness for senior action.

"Mark is raring to go," said coach Geoff Cook. "Hopefully he is over all his problems and he has bowled plenty of overs.

"He's a proven wicket-taker and we feel we have a good balance in our attack to help us to take 20 wickets.

"Neil Killeen and Mitch Claydon haven't had any championship cricket yet, but we are conscious of not giving Ottis Gibson too big a workload and it will be all hands to the pump in the near future."

Following the win against Kent, which took them into third place - one behind Warwickshire, Durham have lost Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett to the England squad, while their hosts will be without only Ian Bell.

Durham will decide between Muchall and Garry Park for the No 3 slot, while Gibson and Callum Thorp also rejoin the squad.

They are certain to play all four seamers, partly in case the problems Graham Onions encountered with his length against Kent should trouble him again.

Even if Muchall edges him out at No 3, Park could still play at the expense of Gareth Breese as Durham expect to find a pitch favouring the seamers.

"It's a concern that we haven't taken a wicket yet with spin," admitted Cook. "Paul Wiseman joined the squad against Kent and we want to keep him involved. Moneeb Iqbal struggled at the start of the season but he's bowling better now and we are looking for him to bowl with consistency as he could be a threat."

Durham lost by 18 runs at Edgbaston last season, despite leading by 151 on first innings. They were all out for 141 in the second innings, with ex-Durham University student Lee Daggett taking six for 30.

He hasn't featured this season, with Warwickshire relying on Heath Streak, South African Dale Steyn and Naqqash Tahir to take the bulk of their wickets.

They also have a number of batsmen in form, including new captain Darren Maddy, Jim Troughton and Tim Ambrose.

Durham (from): D M Benkenstein (capt), M J Di Venuto, W R Smith, G J Muchall, G T Park, K J Coetzer, P Mustard, G R Breese, O D Gibson, C D Thorp, G Onions, M Davies.