DURHAM have added spinners Gareth Breese and Scott Borthwick to the 11 who beat Lancashire for the championship match against Warwickshire, starting at Edgbaston today.
As the ground has produced 11 successive draws in the LV County Championship, the pitch is not expected to favour Durham’s vaunted seam attack.
Borthwick, the 19-year-old leg-spinner from Sunderland could make his first-class debut at the expense of Callum Thorp or Mitch Claydon.
Thorp has been short of wickets recently, although the fact that he swings the ball, as opposed to depending on life in the pitch, could count in his favour.
In their three home games this season Warwickshire have collected maximum batting points but only six bowling points – fewer than any other county.
After being relegated then promoted in the last two seasons they are clearly banking on their batting to keep them in the top flight, especially as they look likely to have Ian Bell for most of the season.
There have been two totals of more than 600 at Edgbaston this season, featuring double centuries by Yorkshire skipper Anthony McGrath and Warwickshire’s Jim Troughton.
The 15th anniversary of Brian Lara’s 501 not out passed two weeks ago, and it is usually forgotten that John Morris scored a double hundred for Durham in that match.
Chris Woakes, who played for the MCC against Durham in April, spearheads the home attack, despite being only 20 and if it came down to a battle of the paceman Durham would win hands down.
No matter how flat the pitch, Graham Onions will have fond memories of his last match at the ground as he took his career-best eight for 101 there two years ago.
Warwickshire were keen to sign him last season, when he was out of the Durham team, but he was never likely to follow the route taken by Melvyn Betts ten years ago.
Durham (from): W R Smith (capt), M J Di Venuto, M D Stoneman, G J Muchall, D M Benkenstein, I D Blackwell, P Mustard, C D Thorp, M E Claydon, G Onions, S J Harmison, G R Breese, S Borthwick.
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