ENGLAND selector James Whitaker did not rule out the possibility yesterday of Graham Onions being whisked away from Durham's match against Lancashire, who made 313 on the first day.

With the second Test starting on Friday, it has not yet been decided who will replace the injured James Anderson and Whitaker said Onions was being monitored.

If required, he would probably have to team up with the England squad before the clash of division one's top two has ended.

But he didn't enhance his chances yesterday as he and Callum Thorp tended to bowl too short following an opening half hour in which they took a wicket each in reducing Lancashire to nine for two.

On a pitch initially tinged with sufficient green to persuade Phil Mustard to put Lancashire in, conditions were much different by the time they took the new ball with the score on 241 for seven.

Had they knocked over the tail quickly it would unquestionably have been Durham's day, but four overs later 32 runs had been added.

Thorp quickly made way for Ben Stokes, but 37 came from the next five overs before Mitch Claydon replaced Onions and had Glen Chapple caught at third man off a top-edged cut for 46.

Chapple's partner in a stand of 87, 22-year-old Oldham all-rounder Luke Procter, then edged Claydon to Mustard. And when another left-hander, Kyle Hogg, was bowled when shouldering arms to Ian Blackwell the last three wickets had gone down for one run.

Blackwell took three wickets, Claydon two and five bowlers had one each.

There was insufficient time for Durham to begin their reply, but although they might have done better they would be the happier of the two sides.

Durham continue to be frustrated in their hopes of reuniting Onions with Steve Harmison, who was ruled out by his back injury.

He might have fancied playing in the Twenty20, which starts on Thursday, but is now more likely to concentrate on getting fit for the next championship match, at home to Yorkshire on June 18.

Three of Lancashire's five wins have come on the club pitches at Liverpool as they pursue their first outright title since 1934.

Despite their 590 at Hove, the average total of the side batting first in their six matches had been 299, compared with 474 for Durham.

Nor have the pitches on which Durham have played deteriorated.

In six of their seven games the final innings has produced more than 300 runs, the exception being their 102 for two to beat Warwickshire at home.

Winning the toss seven times out of eight has therefore not been of great benefit to Durham.

On the one previous occasion when they put the opposition in, Somerset made 610 for six in the last home match.

This time Lancashire would have been in dire trouble had Paul Horton's edge on one offered a little more than a sniff of a chance to Gordon Muchall at first slip.

Horton enjoyed two more slices of luck on his way to 94. On 19 a leading edge off Claydon just evaded cover and a skied hook on 65 off Onions fell into space.

But there were too many short balls he could either hit for four or leave alone, the latter being the preferred option when Horton and Steve Croft set out to get through the post-lunch spell from Onions and Thorp.

They succeeded without too much difficulty, taking the score to 158 for three before Stokes made the breakthrough.

He had been hit for three fours in an over - a pull, a square drive and an on-drive - to take Horton into the 90s.

But he was then becalmed and eight overs later Stokes nipped one back to hit the off stump.

There was certainly help for the seamers in the first half hour and Stephen Moore fell to the 12th ball of the day.

He was surprised by the bounce from Thorp but might have done better than guide a head-high catch to third slip.

It became nine for two when Keith Brown shaped to drive Onions and edged to Michael Di Venuto at second slip.

The Tasmanian also held a simple catch to end Mark Chilton's 23-over vigil for 12 and a brilliant one, at the second attempt, to get rid of Steve Croft for 38.

That was Blackwell's first wicket and his second came when Gareth Cross drove a four wide of mid-off then advanced to meet the next ball and was beaten by the turn turn, offering Mustard a simple stumping.

Given an outing while Ruel Brathwaite was rested after taking 18 wickets in the previous five games, Claydon was out of luck in his first two spells.

But he proved his worth by halting the carnage at the end.