DURHAM are without pace duo Scott Boland and Brydon Carse as they return to County Championship action against Worcestershire today.

Australian Test bowler Boland will miss the game at Kidderminster Cricket Club as he suffered a foot injury in last week’s draw with Warwickshire. He has had a scan, and is being jointly assessed by Durham’s medical team and Cricket Australia.

England international Carse cannot play in this week’s game as it does not fall into his play management schedule.

Durham head coach Ryan Campbell has added Daniel Hogg to the 13-man squad, and if selected, he will make his first-class Durham debut and his maiden senior appearance for the club in professional cricket.

Having watched his bowling attack struggle badly on the opening two days against Warwickshire, with their opponents eventually declaring their first innings on 698-3, Campbell is hoping for a much more potent showing against Worcestershire.

“The result (against Warwickshire) was almost like a perfect storm,” said the Durham boss. “There was a lot of talk about the Kookaburra ball and one boundary was the shortest boundary in the world.

“It was quite a flat wicket, but we didn’t bowl well. I’m very proud of the way the players fought, it’s very easy after their first innings to fold and cave in and be beaten inside two or three days, so full credit to our batters for not allowing that to happen.

“Having not had the game against Hampshire, the bowlers looked short of a gallop so to speak but I’m very confident they’ll bounce back. Our batting was fantastic, if we can score 500 every game, we’d take that. We were far from perfect, but we learnt a lot from it so hopefully we can go to Worcestershire with the Duke’s ball and we can get back on track.”

Durham have started the season with two draws – their opening game against Hampshire was washed out without a single ball being bowled – and Worcestershire have also drawn both of their opening matches, albeit that they currently sit second in the table with 27 points.

“Worcestershire have started really well,” said Campbell. “They came up with us last year and they’ve not looked out of their depth. We expect a really tough clash, and I know we’re going to have to be at our best to get a win.”