STEVE Harmison has suffered another setback in his desperate bid to be fit for Saturday's Friends Provident Trophy final against Hampshire.

The paceman would not have been able to bowl against Surrey yesterday because of stiffness in his back and side, but Durham refused to rule him out of their plans for Lord's.

Coach Geoff Cook said: "He is desperate to play. He has had a second scan, which we hope will reveal a bit more.

"There was no specific time that the injury occurred. He has pushed himself very hard since the hernia operation and it is just general stiffness.

"He hopes to be able to get some sort of remedy that will enable him to help Durham in the final stages of this season. We would like him to bowl in this match but it is a balancing act between short-term gain and long-term damage.

"We would not want to take a chance on him in a Lord's final. We would like him in the team bowling as he was in the first half of the season for us. But he has not had a great deal of match bowling since his operation.

"In a way it is more important that he is fit for the Championship. He has his winter to think of as well and we have kept in touch with the England people so they know what is going on."

Harmison returned to action last week, captaining what was virtually a second X1 against Sri Lanka A, only three weeks after his hernia operation.

But after sticking to the plan to bowl only four overs on each of the first two days, hopes of stepping it up on the third day were thwarted when the tourists declared after he had bowled two overs. With a total of 26 overs behind him since his operation, and his fitness in doubt, it would be a big gamble to play Harmison at Lord's.