England duo out for Durham

5 August 2008

Steve Harmison will miss out for Durham after being named in England's squad

Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison are notable absentees from Durham’s 12-man squad to face LV County Championship Division One rivals Kent at the Riverside.

The duo have been named in England’s squad to face South Africa in the fourth Test at the Brit Oval with seamers Graham Onions and Mark Davies being drafted in as replacements.

Durham coach Geoff Cook has named an otherwise unchanged squad from the one that drew with leaders Nottinghamshire last week, with batsman Michael Di Venuto taking his place in the squad despite injuring his hand at Trent Bridge.

Injury plagued Kent are boosted by the return of seamer Amjad Khan to their ranks.

Khan is on the comeback trail after suffering a hamstring injury in June but will now make the long journey north with his team mates having got through 29 overs for the second XI against Sussex last week.

Captain Rob Key will however be missing batsman Darren Stevens (groin) as well as influential all-rounders Azhar Mahmood (knee) and Justin Kemp (back spasms), leaving Neil Dexter, Matt Walker and Martin Saggers all with chances to impress.

Yasir Arafat is also due to miss the clash after the all-rounder, a peripheral figure in Kent’s Twenty20 Cup campaign, has failed to recover from a side strain.