By Jon Steer
May 25 2005

While UCCE games are often used to give fringe players a try out, this time round Martyn Moxon is using the game to work out the effects of the enforced changes caused by the departure of Mike Hussey and Michael Lewis. Nathan Astle, Ashley Noffke and Callum Thorp make their Durham debuts. Dale Benkenstein will take over the captaincy of the team while Hussey is away with the Australian one day touring party. Vice captain Paul Collingwood would have taken over but is expected to be missing for most of the same matches as part of England's one day squad.

Colly and Plunkett are rested, Gordon Muchall moves up to number three with Nicky Peng given another chance to perform. The bowling attack looks strong with Davies, Noffke and Thorp as the seamers and Bridge and Breese as the spin options.

Durham UCCE have had a pretty good season so far, earning draws at Somerset and Leicestershire and beating Cambridge UCCE. They did however lose their last match to arch rivals Loughborough and currently lie third in the MCC Universities Championship.

The UCCE competitions now fall directly under the MCC who stepped in to provide almost £1.2m worth of funding to the centres after the ECB pulled out.

The full team for the match at the racecourse ground is:

Nathan Astle
Jon Lewis
Gordon Muchall
Dale Benkenstein (Capt)
Nicky Peng
Gareth Breese
Philip Mustard (Wkt)
Graeme Bridge
Callum Thorp
Ashley Noffke
Mark Davies