By Tim Wellock at Riverside
First day of four: Durham 269-4 v Glamorgan
A SLUGGISH pitch and a green Glamorgan attack allowed Durham to sprout shoots of recovery after taking only three batting points from their previous four matches.
An opening stand of 76 was their highest in the championship this season, and after slipping to 112 for three David Boon and Nick Speak took root in a stand of 128 in 49 overs.
Boon was on 86 not out when bad light intervened with five overs left and will be hoping to convert his seventh championship fifty of the season into his third century. In an innings of few risks, he had the greatest respect for Dean Cosker, whose 27 overs of left-arm spin cost only 31 runs.
Without Waqar Younis, Steve Watkin and Robert Croft, Glamorgan handed a championship debut to Simon Jones, 19, the son of former England left-arm paceman Jeff Jones. He proved quick through the air, but struggled for a consistent line.
With a blustery crosswind helping his away swing, Glamorgan had Adrian Dale on in the seventh over and he found Jimmy Daley's edge to bring in Boon with members bemoaning last season's release of Robin Weston, who was making 84 at Derby.
After making 59 in four hours, Speak fell in similar fashion to John Morris, who top-edged a cut to third man.
Day 2: Betts injury mars record day
By Tim Wellock at Riverside
Durham 396 v Glamorgan 259-4
DURHAM again had cause to curse their luck when hopes of resurrecting the season which began with so much promise were shattered by an injury to paceman Melvyn Betts.
Betts, 23, recently in contention for an England place, collapsed in his delivery stride after only four balls against Glamorgan and was taken off on a stretcher with a suspected torn groin muscle.
Durham's physiotherapist, Nigel Kent, said: ``I think it is quite a bad tear. If it is torn it will take three to six weeks to heal.''
The acceleration came courtesy of some wayward bowling from Steve Lugsden, who replaced Betts, as Glamorgan reached 259 for four off 58 overs.
Steve James and Tony Cottey both passed 10,000 first-class runs for Glamorgan, James reaching the target in fewer innings (271) than any other player when he was on 28. Cottey finished unbeaten on 68 and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 132 with Matthew Maynard, who stroked an elegant 79 off 102 balls.
Five wickets for Darren Thomas took him to 55, two more than his previous best, while there was also an unwanted landmark for Glamorgan as 61 extras beat their record of 56 against Hampshire in 1982.
Against a seriously depleted attack, Durham concentrated on restoring confidence by topping 400 for the first time since May 1996. Having lost four of their last five games, all with Wednesday starts, in three days this was a rare Saturday outing, and even rarer was the achievement of maximum batting points.
There was an over to spare when the target was reached for the first time for a year and for only the second time by Durham at the four-year-old Riverside ground.
Resuming on 86, David Boon sped to his third century of the season - his 67th in first-class cricket - before being bowled by Andrew Davies.
Day 3: Bold Thomas unrewarded
By Tim Wellock at Riverside
Third day of four: Durham (396 & 128-0) lead Glamorgan (486) by 38 runs
GLAMORGAN'S bold approach, typified by Darren Thomas, failed to earn its just reward after they spurned the option of declaring behind and putting the onus on David Boon to set them a target.
Preferring to build a lead with all haste, Thomas performed his role to perfection, hitting 74 off 64 balls before he was last out, brilliantly caught by Martin Speight after hooking the previous ball for six.
Despite having scored at 4.4 an over, compared with Durham's 2.8 in achieving their lead of 90, Glamorgan emerged with two fewer bonus points and their victory hopes were dented when two impassioned appeals against John Morris were turned down.
They came from successive Thomas deliveries with Morris on 19 and he went on to wipe out the arrears with Jon Lewis as they posted Durham's highest opening stand of the season for the second time in the match.
Unusually for a match on this ground, the contest has become something of a stalemate, largely because both attacks are seriously depleted.
The loss of Melvyn Betts on Saturday, after bowling only four balls, was a cruel setback for Durham. A specialist is expected to confirm a torn groin muscle today and Betts is unlikely to play again this season.
Cutting merrily, Tony Cottey proceeded to his third century against Durham while Matthew Maynard and Mike Powell added the sparkle during century stands.
There were also some majestic strokes from Morris as he passed his season's best of 50 and reached 68 before bad light halted play.
Day 4: Morris explains century gesture
By Tim Wellock at Riverside
Durham (396 & 385-7) drew with Glamorgan (486)
IT WAS a tale of three figures and two fingers for John Morris yesterday as Durham's vice-captain enlivened a day of tedium. In the fifth season of his six-year contract, Morris became Durham's leading century-maker but was captured on film waving two fingers at a section of the sparse crowd on reaching his hundred.
He had been the subject of some barracking while fielding on the boundary on Sunday and, as word spread of his apparently offensive gesture, it seemed Morris had shot himself in the foot in view of his benefit next season. But Morris explained: ``The gesture was directed at a mate of mine who bet me £20 I wouldn't make a century. If the members think it was aimed at them, I apologise.'' He later walked over to speak to the members involved, who accepted his explanation.
There was no applause from Glamorgan either for Morris's hundred or at the end of his innings of 163 as they thought they had him out off successive balls from Darren Thomas when he was on 19. The second appeal was for lbw and the first for a catch behind.
Even when Morris hit Andrew Davies for five successive fours in racing from 100 to 150 in 39 balls, there was never any prospect of Durham setting a target because of the absence of their leading bowler, Melvyn Betts, who tore a groin muscle on Saturday. They began the day 38 ahead with all wickets intact and lost Jon Lewis, bowled by Thomas in the third over. But few other balls misbehaved as David Boon avoided any chance of defeat with 62 not out.
With Betts unable to bat, Glamorgan had a very brief scent of a run-chase when Durham slipped from 267 for two to 301 for six after Morris's exit.
Jimmy Daley continued his habit of getting out when well-set, edging to Dawood to give Simon Jones, 19, his first championship wicket.
Martin Speight swept a Cosker full toss to backward square leg and Nicky Phillips chipped a catch to the same position.