Fast bowler John Blain and acting captain Matthew Wood are two Yorkshire players who will be able to look back with some pride on what has so far been a fairly indifferent season.

Blain has turned out to be one of the county's leading wicket-takers while Wood is on line to complete 1,000 runs for the second consecutive season.

When Yorkshire signed Blain from Northamptonshire shortly before the start of the season, some sceptics pointed out that his first class career record with the ball stood at 49 wickets, each of which had cost him 47.20 runs.

But after the recent drawn Championship match with Derbyshire at Headingley, Blain's 23 wickets for Yorkshire were costing him 25.82 runs apiece which represents a remarkable improvement by the 25-year-old Scot.

Although he had a poor game at Grace Road in the contest which concluded yesterday, he has still made several important contributions over the past few months and does not deserve the criticisms unfairly levelled at him by some of the fans.

Blain certainly caused Derbyshire more problems than anyone else and he came out of the game with six wickets for 66 runs, including his best return for Yorkshire in the first innings of four for 38.

Despite Blain's personal success, to be among the leading wicket-takers with so few dismissals at this late stage in the summer is an indication of just how ordinary the pace attack in general has been.

It should be remembered, however, that Blain missed out on five Championship matches when he pulled up with a calf muscle strain during the game against Nottinghamshire at Headingley.

"I have really enjoyed my time with Yorkshire and I am delighted with the way things have turned out," said Blain, who would have even greater cause for satisfaction if he could cut out the 'four ball' which he seems to send down nearly every over.

"The lads are great company and very easy to get along with and all I wish for now is that we can string some results together in the closing weeks of the season and win promotion.''

Blain lives in West Yorkshire and is next door neighbour to his close friend and fellow countryman, Gavin Hamilton, who was leaving Yorkshire for Durham at around the same time as Blain was knocking on the door at Headingley.

Wood began the season very modestly indeed in the Championship, making only 114 in his first seven innings to give him an average of 16.28.

Since then, however, he's shown amazing consistency and even the added burden of having to take over the captaincy from the injured Craig White for the remainder of the season has not affected his form.

In seven out of nine consecutive innings up to the Derbyshire game at Headingley Wood had rapped out half-centuries without going on to reach three figures but he then made Derbyshire pay with a glorious 123 which gave him the 15th Championship century of his career.

Last season was Wood's most outstanding so far with 1,339 Championship runs and 1,432 in all first-class matches for Yorkshire.

He won't quite reach that peak this time but if he continues his good run he should not fall far short.

Wood, don't forget, also shone for Yorkshire in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, amassing a total of 278 runs in four innings, and he made a blistering unbeaten 96 in the Twenty-20 Cup against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The only competition in which he has not really done anything exceptional is in the totesport League but, even so, only Phil Jaques beat him to the 300 runs mark.