THE clash of last season's beaten semi-finalists launches the Friends Provident Trophy when Yorkshire visit Riverside on Sunday.

It's a repeat of last year's opener, when Durham won by five runs before losing their next three ties, all away from home.

The third of those defeats was at Headingley, where Yorkshire swept to a five-wicket win with 14.2 overs to spare and it seemed their defence of the trophy they won in 2007 was over. But they won their remaining games to finish level with Yorkshire on ten points at the top of the group.

Then came the huge disappointment of losing the semi-final at home to Kent, while Yorkshire lost to eventual winners Essex at Chelmsford.

The regional format has disappeared from this event, with Surrey, Sussex and Gloucestershire completing the group and presenting a few travel headaches for Durham.

But their first three games are all at home, so they will need to take advantage of that if they are to challenge seriously for a repeat of the 2007 trip to Lord's.

Durham's leading wicket-taker in the premier cup, Neil Killeen, is unlikely to feature. He has taken 43 wickets in 33 matches but his pre-season work has been restricted by a calf injury.

But hopes are high that Liam Plunkett can repeat some of his match-winning performances of the past, especially after his impressive bowling against Durham University.

Plunkett was named in England's provisional squad of 30 for the Twenty20 World Championship and said: "It's been a while since I was involved with England, but I haven't deserved to be for the last 18 months.

"I've been a bit inconsistent and am just hoping everything will come together now. The England squad will be chopped down and I'm not thinking about it too much. I just want to play regularly for Durham and do well for them. Watching them win the championship last year made me want to be involved more."

DURHAM SQUAD: W Smith (capt), D Benkenstein, I Blackwell, G Breese, M Claydon, M Di Venuto, B Harmison, S Harmison, G Muchall, P Mustard (wkt), G Onions, L Plunkett, C Thorp.

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