The Barker and Patel show

In its review of the 2012 County Championship Wisden describes last season's Riverside pitches as 'questionable' which to this blogger's partisan mind implies that they were prepared to suit the home side's pace attack. Certainly high scores, except when Joe Root is at the crease, remain at a premium and the current match between Durham and Warwickshire, which enters its third day this morning, is following the pattern.

Durham's first innings score of 267 is very much a par score and was enough to give them a first innings lead of 58 over The Bears but when shortly after lunch yesterday the visitors were 116 for 7 it looked as though Durham's advantage might be much bigger. Enter Barker and Patel, who between them had taken seven wickets on Wednesday, and who demonstrated their all round abilities with a stand of 72 with Patel ending as top scorer. The man whose exhorted Collingwood to  'bring on Borthwick' went rather quiet when the leg spinner's two overs went for 21 and it was the recall of Rushworth that did the trick, removing Barker and leaving Stokes to take the last two wickets.

On Wednesday I had arrived in time for the call of play but on seeing that the wickets were pitched towards the old scoreboard, walked behind the media centre in search of a closer view, and emerged just in time to see Stoneman retrace his steps to the dressing rooms having been caught behind for 0 off Barker's second ball. Over the course of the next two days a further 27 wickets have fallen to leave the match finely balanced. Durham's lead is 208 with two wickets left to fall and much may depend on the ability of the last two wickets to extend that lead. On a wicket that whether 'questionable' or not has served up two absorbing days' cricket and even with rain forecast for the last two scheduled days will almost certainly produce a win for one side or the other, 250 will be a stiff task.

After tea yesterday Stoneman and Jennings added 49 for the first wicket without too many alarms but a double change of bowling started a slide which was halted only by the removal of the bails for the close of play. No surprise that it was Patel who started the rot. Smith's attempts to play the New Zealand spinner became evermore frantic and he was his second victim after Jennings. Collingwood who averages just  a whisker over twelve at The Riverside this season, improved only slightly on his first innings effort and Mustard, who I have rarely seen fail, bagged a pair. Whilst these wickets were tumbling Stoneman showed why increasingly pundits are linking his name to representative cricket but he too fell before the close. His 82 was only the third fifty of the match.

When (or if) play resumes this morning the senior partner will be Richardson, who having waited patiently for an opportunity this season finds himself playing as a specialist batsman at number eight, not the easiest position from which to build big innings. BBC Tees made the point earlier this week that to some extent the Bears are Durham's rabbits, if bears can be rabbits, for the Prince Bishops have had more wins against the current champions than against any other county.That omen has already proved misleading this season when at Edgbaston in April Durham were on the wrong end of a stuffing: so far Warwickshire's only win of the season in four day cricket. They will probably feel slight favourites this morning to improve on that, but that of course is 'questionable'.