Ashley Cowan provided Essex with a major boost before their below-strength side suffered a 78 runs defeat at the hands of Durham in yesterday's 45 overs friendly at Chelmsford.

It was not that the 23-year-old paceman produced a devastating spell. In fact he claimed just one wicket at a cost of 43 in his spell of nine overs as the visitors powered their way to an impressive 268-6.

However, it was the fact Cowan came through without any ill effects which brought smiles in the Essex dressing room.

"This was my first serious bowl since I injured my knee while out jogging three weeks ago," revealed Cowan. "It just suddenly gave way on me and I feared I'd be missing from the action for some time.

"I don't know exactly what the trouble was but I had an operation to clear out some debris and following today's excursions felt no discomfort.

"I'm off to Germany at the weekend to see a top consultant who specialises in sporting injuries and hopefully he will confirm everything is OK.

"I certainly hope so because I don't want to experience the sort of frustrating time I had last summer."

Last year Cowan missed half the county's campaign with a troublesome shoulder injury which eventually was sorted out by the German specialist.

Another plus against Durham was the form of 19-year-old fast bowler Jamie Grove. He combined pace and accuracy to emerge with the wicket of former England batsman John Morris at a cost of only 29 in his permitted nine-over stint.

Certainly none of his colleagues came close to matching those figures. Medium paceman Ricky Anderson conceded 70 in eight overs while off spinner Jonathan Powell, who spent last summer sorting out a back problem, went for 51 in six.

Against an attack lacking the guile and experience of Peter Such and Mark Ilott, Durham were able to prosper at a fair rate of knots.

James Daley, with 90 from 94 balls, and Paul Collingwood, with a rapid 61 from 45 deliveries, were the batsmen who put Essex to the sword. Each helped themselves to three sixes as they took part in a third-wicket stand of 110 in only 14 overs.

With the likes of Nasser Hussain, Paul Prichard and Stuart Law missing from the batting line up, Essex were never able to mount a serious challenge.

Only Ronnie Irani, who will be leading the county when Hussain is away with England, batted with any real authority, striking three sixes while helping himself to 72 off 69 balls.

The only other player to top 20 was 18-year-old Ian Flanagan who scored a solid 41 from 45 balls before being court in the deep.

His third wicket partnership with Irani yielded 90 in 16 overs but once it was broken wickets tumbled quickly as Essex finally closed on 192-8.

Neil Killeen proved the biggest barrier to Essex progress, his lively medium pace earning him figures of 4-34.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.