GEOFF Cook is confident Steve Harmison remains a force to be reckoned with as Durham prepare to welcome their talismanic fast bowler back into the side against Worcestershire today.

Harmison has not figured this season since he was struck on the arm while batting against Hampshire.

The force of the blow was enough to crack his forearm and the 32-year-old managed just a handful of overs with the ball before retiring hurt.

That unfortunate mishap – he was struck by a drive from skipper Phil Mustard while at the non-striker’s end at the Rose Bowl – came after a miserable 2010 in which the Ashington Express never regained match fitness after a trapped nerve in his back at the start of the summer.

With three years left on a lucrative contract at Durham, some have questioned whether the former England star’s body can still cope with the demands put on it as a fast bowler, but Cook hopes his star man will prove otherwise.

He said: “Steve played in a second eleven game and did well.

“He spent last week bowling in the nets and he has done enough to get into shape for this game.

“He has had a terrible time with injuries.

“He is still a force to be reckoned with when he gets things right and I’m sure every side in the Championship would rather not have to face him.

“He is 32, but I don’t see any reason why he hasn’t got another three years in him.

“He has to look after himself, he was never really fit last summer and eventually that brought a premature end to his campaign.

“It’s not up to me to say how other people feel, but Steven is an excellent bowler when he clicks and it is up to him to prove it. With Graham Onions missing out after his England Lions call-up, hopefully he will do just that against Worcester.”

Onions’ selection for the Lions is an inconvenience to Durham given he is still feeling his way back into form, but Cook is not the sort of coach who moans about international call-ups.

He said: “We just have to get on with it. He was playing superbly for England before he broke down and it is nice for him to be back on the fringes of the Test side again.

“He has showed some glimpses of that form for Durham and I’m sure he will be hoping to use the Lions game to show the selectors he is getting back into Test form again. We just have to get on with it.

“The Counties signed up to the idea of the England Lions so we have to accept it when our players are called up to play in Lions games.”

Dale Benkenstein will play against Worcestershire after he was rested for the one-day victory over Scotland on Monday, as will Ian Blackwell who has recovered from the back spasm that forced him to bat with a runner against Somerset last week.

Worcestershire are generally seen as the weakest side in the division, although Cook, who has described the rearguard action against Somerset last week as one of the best match-saving performances he has seen, is not taking them lightly.

He said: “They have been in every game they have played so far this season and they are nobody’s whipping boys.

“We are still searching for consistency in our performances and they have a disciplined seam attack who put pressure on you by making it difficult to score runs.

“The cricket we played in the final five sessions against Somerset last week was fantastic.

“To save the game from the position we were in was a fantastic achievement for everyone concerned.

“It was one of the best performances of that nature I have seen.

“What we don’t want to do is find ourselves having to do that sort of thing very often, so we will need to be better with the ball against Worcestershire.”

DURHAM (from): Di Venuto, Smith, Muchall, Stokes, Benkenstein, Blackwell, Mustard, Borthwick, Thorp, S Harmison, Brathwaite, Raines.