DURHAM are scheduled to play on nine of the next ten days, and if all goes well they will then have three days off before starting their final championship match at Canterbury with hopes of a glorious treble still alive.

They will be sure of promotion in the NatWest Pro40 League if they win at home to bottom club Glamorgan on Saturday week, but before that they will be looking for at least a win and a draw from championship matches against two title rivals.

The 10.30 starts in September are unlikely to tempt Dale Benkenstein to follow last week's successful gamble of putting the opposition in, should he win the toss.

As with many outgrounds, there will be a concern at Blackpool today about how well the pitch will last. When the Stanley Park ground celebrated its first-class centenary last season, Lancashire declared on 562 for eight against Worcestershire, who followed up with 376 and 113.

Benkenstein will also see opposition spinners as a danger in the fourth innings, even though Lancashire can no longer call on Muttiah Muralitharan. In his final match, the Sri Lankan suffered an arm injury last week which hampered Lancashire at Canterbury and left them having to settle for a draw, which left them 6.5 points behind Durham.

Lancashire were also four points adrift of Sussex, who have every chance of claiming the maximum of 22 after having the good fortune to win the toss against Yorkshire yesterday.

Sussex's match at Riverside starts on Tuesday next week, when Durham have to overcome the threat of Mushtaq Ahmed if they are to stay afloat.

First they face a tricky selection decision at Blackpool, surrounding the choice of two seamers to support Ottis Gibson, whose 59 championship wickets put him 27 clear of Durham's next best, Steve Harmison.

With unbeaten half-centuries in the last two games, Liam Plunkett looks safe despite his disappointing bowling. So the choice lies between Graham Onions and Mark Davies.

Since his career-best eight for 101 at Edgbaston in June, Onions has struggled for consistency. But his excellent ten-over spell after tea on the second day last week, when Worcestershire were threatening to turn the game, proved crucial.

Mark Stoneman returns to open for Durham, with Phil Mustard dropping into the middle order following the departure of Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Durham (from): D M Benkenstein (capt), M J Di Venuto, M D Stoneman, K J Coetzer, G J Muchall, P Mustard, B W Harmison, O D Gibson, L E Plunkett, P J Wseman, G Onions, M Davies.