WARREN Hegg recovered from a painful blow to the ribs to boost Lancashire in their Championship game against Durham today.

The former England wicket keeper was felled by a short ball from young Durham paceman Steve Harmison in Tuesday's Benson and Hedges Cup victory at Old Trafford.

To add insult to injury, the ball rebounded onto Hegg's stumps, leaving him to stagger back to the pavilion rubbing his ribs all the way.

But the 32-year-old said: "It's nothing worse than a bit of bruising.

"I got the length of the ball wrong and it hit me straight in the breastbone. It knocked the wind out of me really, but I've had a bit of treatment and I'm sure it will be fine."

Hegg, who hit 36 in a match-winning sixth wicket stand of 73 with Neil Fairbrother, insists that despite reaching the semi-finals, Lancashire are still playing some way below their best.

"I think if you asked anyone in the team, they'd agree that we aren't playing to our potential yet," he added. "But we are still on a good run of results and if we can beat Durham again we'll have two wins out of our first three Championship matches, which would be the best start I can remember."

And both Hegg and Lancashire have a good record in the North-East. "I got 89 up there the other year and we always seem to beat them inside the distance. It's been quite a fruitful ground for us," he recalled.

Lancashire recalled Mike Smethurst in place of Ian Austin in the only change from Tuesday's team, with Gary Keedy included in the squad as the likely 12th man.

Their selection options were limited by two unusual injuries, with Aussie-Italian Joe Scuderi ruled out after slipping down a grass bank at Durham University, and young paceman Paul Ridgway also unavailable after being bitten by a dog.

Lancashire: Crawley, Atherton, Flintoff, Ganguly, Fairbrother, Lloyd, Hegg, Schofield, Chapple, Martin Smethurst, Keedy.