Champions Durham held up by Edgbaston rain

LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Edgbaston:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY ONE: Durham 65-1 v Warwickshire
Match scorecard

More than three quarters of the day's play was lost at Edgbaston as faltering county champions Durham suffered a rain-hit start against Warwickshire.

No play was possible before tea but then, after squeezing in just 21 overs, Durham ground their way to 65-1 before bad light forced an early close.

The only wicket to fall was Michael di Venuto, trapped leg before for just 4 by home paceman Chris Woakes.

But Mark Stoneman (31) and Gordon Muchall (21) ensured no further alarms.

After a five-hour wait for play to get under way, further showers and bad light caused three stoppages for the struggling champions - on the rebound from a two-day defeat by Kent.

With Durham starting the game three points ahead of bottom-of-the-table Warwickshire, there was a different edge to last summer when the northerners won both meetings on their way to retaining the Division One crown.

Consistently undermined by fitness issues this season, Durham were without Steve Harmison because of an ankle problem and they also left out opening batsman Kyle Coetzer and all-rounder Gareth Breese.

They even managed to pick up another injury during a football kick-about on the outfield, although Callum Thorp, who needed stitches in a cut eyebrow, was not scheduled to take part in the match.

Losing a wicket in the first over was the last thing they would have wanted.

But last season's prolific top run scorer di Venuto was a victim of early movement after collecting a boundary off Woakes, who immediately took his revenge with a successful lbw appeal.

That brought together two batsmen making their first championship appearances since last August.

Stoneman took 18 balls to get off the mark and Muchall came through a difficult start.

Dropped at second slip in Woakes' second over, he survived again when two edges off Andrew Miller failed to carry.

But left-hander Stoneman finally seized his opportunity, having waited more than three weeks since scoring a career-best 118 against Durham MCCU in his only previous first-class innings this season.

By the time the gloomy weather closed in again the injury troubles had spread to Warwickshire, Darren Maddy being forced to leave the field five balls into his third over.