PRIDE and prizemoney are at stake for Durham in their last two LV= County Championship games, starting at home to Northamptonshire today.

With Division One survival secured after two successive wins, they can move within two points of third-placed Nottinghamshire if they take a maximum haul against a team who have been predictably short of top-flight quality.

Scott Borthwick (981) is in pole position to pip Mark Stoneman (924) to 1,000 championship runs, as he did last year, and with Michael Richardson on 887 there’s a chance that Durham will have three 1,000-run men for the first time.

Boosting the bank balance is also on this week’s agenda, with a welcome windfall already guaranteed from Saturday’s Royal London Cup final.

The winners at Lord’s will receive £100,000 for the players’ kitty and £54,000 for the club, while the figures for the runners-up are £45,000 and £27,000.

The prizemoney in the championship is: third place – £88,000 for the players and £15,000 for the club; fourth – £27,000 and £5,120; fifth – £20,000 and £4,000.

Durham lie sixth but are only two points behind Somerset and a further two behind Sussex, so there is plenty of incentive to go for the full haul against Northants.

At Wantage Road in the first match of the season they had nine overs to take the final wicket but were denied. In the first innings they had been defied by the unlikely figure of Surrey reject Matt Spriegel, who made 97. He has barely scored a run since and has been released.

Having signed Indian paceman Varun Aaron as an insurance policy against the drop, Durham will feel obliged to play him.

Although he is keen to make his mark with a view to playing county cricket next year, Aaron might seem as superfluous as the man he replaces, John Hastings, could prove to be for Chennai Superkings in the Champions League.

Hastings played only once in the IPL and it will be interesting to see if he is selected for Wednesday’s game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

If he is Durham can probably wave goodbye to any chance of him returning for Saturday’s Lord’s final.

If he is not available then Paul Coughlin will step in and there must be a temptation to play him against Northants, even if it means leaving out Peter Chase after his promising start.

The Irishman’s nine wickets at 18.33 in two games have taken him to the top of Durham’s bowling averages, ahead of Hastings with 37 at 21.94.

Chris Rushworth is the leading wicket-taker with 43 and with better luck than he has enjoyed recently will reach 50 in this game.

The other selection decision surrounds Calum MacLeod, who ended a run of poor form by scoring 116 not out for Scotland in the last of their three one-day games against Ireland in Dublin.

It would be tough on Gordon Muchall to make way as is averaging 40 in the championship after his unbeaten 74 in the second innings at Lord’s.

Durham (from): P D Collingwood (capt), M D Stoneman, K K Jennings, S G Borthwick, M J Richardson, B A Stokes, P Mustard, C S MacLeod, G J Muchall, V Aaron, C Rushworth, P Coughlin, P K D Chase.