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The azure sky, the lush green grass, the copper beeches and purple blossom, the gentle applause, the tactile student couples, those sumptuous players' lunches: The Parks is a perfect place in April, unless you are an Oxford bowler.

On the first day of their match against Durham last year they were out of luck as Stewart Hutton and Mike Roseberry put on 334 for the first wicket.

Yesterday, having lost the toss, they had to wait three hours 40 minutes and 291 runs to part the Durham opening pair. It was almost enough to persuade them to stay in the library.

The omens were inauspicious for Oxford when the first ball of the new season cost five runs. Chetan Patel, a burly mature student, overstepped with his opening delivery which was clipped for three by former Essex opener Jon Lewis, who moved to Durham in the winter.

A neat, compact player suited to playing long innings, he was soon into his stride with some punchy drives and nimble running.

The young Paul Collingwood, preferred to Rose-berry as opener, played the more aesthetic shots, particularly into the covers, but his placement was not as good and Lewis, rarely troubled on a pitch of wonderfully even pace and bounce, soon rattled up a hundred out of 148.

Shrouded in sweaters against a chilly breeze, David Boon watched his new charges contentedly from beneath a heater in the pavilion and would have been impressed by Lewis's friskiness and Collingwood's glossy timing. One effortless on-drive was reminsicent of Greg Chappell.

Collingwood brought up his maiden first-class century with a typical back-foot thump but, attempting something cruder, dragged a delivery from the persevering Patel into his stumps, to huge relief from the fielders.

This brought in John Morris, who had been waiting a combined total of 10 hours for a knock on this surface (last year Durham declared with both openers still undefeated).

Looking understandably shaky on his feet, he was rapped on the pads first ball, and the itchy-fingered umpire, Neil Mallender, was only denied the excitement of giving his first lbw by the fact that he had already called no-ball. However, he had to wait only 10 minutes before Morris walked in front of another.

Durham will be reassured by the knowledge that Morris is too good a player to have two barren seasons in succession, and the presence of Nick Speak, Boon and Martin Speight gives the middle order a nutritious look. Lewis, too, can make a pig of himself, yesterday going on to record 210 - Durham's highest individual score - before the declaration.

The visiting bowlers soon added a tasty reminder that playing Durham won't be such a leisurely pursuit this summer.