MIKE Atherton hit a superb unbeaten century to steer Lancashire to a comfortable victory over Durham at Old Trafford today.

The England captain had struggled to make 24 out of a total of 82 for 2 in the first 24 overs last night before rain forced the Benson & Hedges Cup tie to go into a second day.

But it was a different Atherton today as he cruised elegantly to three figures in just 64 more balls to win the Gold Award, surprisingly only the second, of his career.

John Crawley had hit 45 in a third wicket stand of 105 in 23 overs before top-edging a pull off Simon Brown to deep square leg, then Neil Fairbrother teamed up with Atherton to complete the win with seven wickets and more than two overs to spare.

Atherton ended unbeaten on 121, a new B & H best, and he clearly enjoys facing the Durham attack.

It was his third consecutive century against them following the Championship and Sunday League games last year, and his fifth in the five seasons since Durham were given first class status.

Today's win means Lancashire could virtually guarantee themselves a quarter final place by beating Derbyshire at Chesterfield in the Sky TV game tomorrow.

Derbyshire have a new captain and coach in the former Australian Test star Dean Jones and a formidable attack led by England trio Dominic Cork, Phil DeFreitas and Devon Malcolm, while Chris Adams is another big threat with the bat.

But Lancashire were today boosted by the news that Peter Martin is available to make his B&H debut for the season after recovering from his shoulder injury.

That leaves them with a tricky selection problem - Ian Austin, Gary Yates and skipper Mike Watkinson will almost certainly be three of the five front line bowlers, leaving Martin, Glen Chapple and Steve Elworthy fighting for the other two places.

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