Durham dominate between Lord's showers

Left-hander Di Venuto struck 53 while Blackwell made a typical dash to 63 not out, from just 61 balls, by the close of the opening day of the season curtain-raiser, which Durham reached on 244 for four.

Two rain stoppages halted play before lunch and delayed the restart of the afternoon session, but Durham made light of the interruptions after being put in - a move which left the England Test batting hopefuls among the representative XI, particularly Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell, kicking their heels.

However, if MCC captain Rob Key expected some early assistance for his bowlers on an overcast day, it did not transpire in immediate success. Openers Mark Stoneman and Di Venuto began with a century stand. Stoneman, the other half of the north-east county's left-handed opening combination, accumulated his runs at a more sedate pace and got stuck on 20 either side of the first shower.

He was still on that score when, after the first resumption, he edged Tim Bresnan to first slip, where Stephen Moore floored a straightforward opportunity. And the rain blew in during Yorkshireman Bresnan's next over, the 16th of the innings, to drive the players from the field once more.

Di Venuto was celebrating a 67-ball fifty not long after the afternoon restart but he had not added to his total when a push at Yorkshire's Bresnan, a late replacement for Middlesex pace bowler Steve Finn, offered Bell a slip catch.

That wicket sparked a spell of four successes for 37 runs either side of tea, as the MCC hit back strongly. All-rounder Bresnan dismissed Stoneman for 49 on the verge of the second interval with a delivery which beat the outside edge and clipped off stump.

Warwickshire's 20-year-old Chris Woakes then gained reward for a fine display in established company when a delivery of away swing and bounce undid Gordon Muchall and provided wicketkeeper James Foster with a straightforward dismissal.

If Muchall could claim to have been accounted for by a beauty, the same could not be said of former Durham captain Dale Benkenstein, who spooned a pull at a harmless long hop from Sajid Mahmood straight to square leg.

But from a position of 141 for four, new leader Will Smith and new boy Blackwell shared a three-figure alliance. Smith dropped anchor for an unbeaten 43 while former England one-day player Blackwell blazed away, taking advantage of the short boundary on the grandstand side of the ground to crash 11 fours.