THE England selectors will have had mixed emotions after the second day of Nottinghamshire's LV= County Championship Division One match against Durham at Trent Bridge.
With the fitness of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad under close scrutiny at present, the duo took to the field and got through almost 40 overs of bowling between them on a day spent in the field for the hosts.
The two bowlers have had their own injury scares to contend with in recent times and have been using games as practice ahead of the first Test with New Zealand – starting on May 16 at Lord's.
For Swann, yesterday was his first competitive bowling since having elbow surgery in the USA and despite failing to take a wicket, on an unfriendly pitch for spinner, he was able to get through 20 overs in the middle (20-5-44-0).
Broad, meanwhile, had already enjoyed a successful time against Derbyshire last week but during his three overs bowled on Monday evening he reported a tight groin which meant he exited the action as a precautionary measure.
The doctor checked over Broad in the morning before play and the England T20 skipper reported himself good to go after having a run around in the in-field.
He then got through 18 more overs as the visitors dug their heels in to chase down Notts' first innings of 320.
Once into the fray, Broad was quickly into his stride but toiled for seven overs without a wicket before lunch.
However, he had better joy after the interval and had Ben Stokes caught and bowled for 11, before striking later in the day to break the stubborn resistance of former England team-mate Paul Collingwood (64) – who was caught behind by Chris Read.
Broad ended with figures of 21-3-65-2 but came off after his last spell complaining of groin pains once again, although it was fully expected that he would be back in action today.
Notts head coach Mick Newell has already said he doesn't expect Broad to play again for Notts before facing the Kiwis, although he did reveal that Swann is likely to turn out in Pro40 action away to Northants on Sunday and at home to Kent on Wednesday – where he will get the chance to bowl eight overs twice.
When talking about Swann's elbow problem, Newell added: "He's not had any on-going treatment on it, it was just a case of getting on with it.
"He's bowled 20 overs and I think he's probably looking for a game where he bowls 30 to 40 overs to prove it's OK.
"There wouldn't be a lot in an April Trent Bridge pitch.
"I think at the moment it's just about him bowling the number of overs he can bowl to make sure he is fit for the Test match.
"A couple of weeks ago he was trying to push himself a bit to play at Derby and probably pushed himself a bit too early so not playing at Derby was probably a good idea."
The day had started with Notts getting an early breakthrough as night watchman Chris Rushworth edged Ajmal Shahzad behind to Read.
The wicketkeeper was in action again as he helped dismiss Scott Borthwick (16) off the bowling of Luke Fletcher to leave the visitors on 86-3.
Durham looked to have weathered the storm up to lunch, with the stubborn Will Smith still at the crease, but the medium pace of Steven Mullaney then struck just before the break as Dale Benkenstein's live-wire innings of 27 came to an end when trapped lbw.
And when Broad got the first of his scalps the score was 148-5 and the hosts were looking on top.
But Collingwood then came to the crease, set down his anchor and rarely looked in trouble as he played with composure off the back foot.
Along with Smith, who had reached 50 off 130 balls, the duo put on a stand of 115 to take the score past 250, with the opener then reaching his century off 270 balls – an indication of the slow pace runs came in the last two sessions.
Broad then struck to end Collingwood's stay to leave Durham at 263-6, but the visitors saw out the day to trail by just 23 runs – with Smith still at the crease on 119no after his long vigil.
