DURHAM'S Phil Mustard is hoping his benefit match at South Northumberland tomorrow will be graced by West Indian star Chris Gayle.

As he prepares for today's Royal London Cup tie at Derby, Mustard has to fit organising his benefit into his hectic schedule and said: “I haven't seen much of the family recently.

“The benefit events so far have gone well and it should be a really good family day at South North with a 3pm start. It's £5 for adults and free for under 16s and some of the players will be holding a practice session with the kids from 1pm.

“Mahela Jayawardene was going to play but he's had to pull out, so I've invited Chris Gayle.”

The Twenty 20 match features a PCA Masters X1 which will include 2005 Ashes winners Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Geraint Jones, plus T20 specialist Owais Shah and former Yorkshire wicketkeeper Richard Blakey.

The Colonel's X1 includes Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick, Marcus North, ex-Durham seamer Mark Davies and former Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper.

Mustard's main benefit match is the final NatWest T20 Blast game against Derbyshire on July 29, which has been billed as The Colonel's Last Stand.

“People have said that suggests I'm retiring at the end of the season, but that's definitely not the case,” he said. “I still think I've got lots of cricket left in me. I've never been injured and I'm hitting the ball nicely.

“I'm out of contract at the end of the season and I'll have to see what's on offer. I would love to play more four-day cricket. That's what I'm striving to do.”

Today's day-night match at Derby starts at 2pm and could be another high-scoring contest after Durham amassed 340 at Leicester on Sunday, while Derbyshire knocked off 296 to beat Worcestershire with seven wickets and 11 balls in hand.

Left-hander Hamish Rutherford hit seven sixes in a 74-ball hundred and there is a second New Zealand one-day international batsman in the side in Neil Broom, a UK passport holder.

“I don't think we'll be changing the team,” said Mustard. “We have Paul Coughlin available, but the management are being very careful with him because he's a proper cricketer.

“The 50-over game probably suits us better than T20. We've set out with an aggressive approach in T20 and had some great performances and some very average ones.

“No-one has got a T20 century yet for Durham and I'm aiming to do it this year.

“In the 50-over cup Mark Stoneman and I can take a bit more time to set a solid base. It worked really well on Sunday and we'll be aiming to do it again.”