Yorkshire Diary

The only game they have lost in any competition on their travels was against Nottinghamshire in the totesport League on May 2.

In all, they have had 13 away games with ten victories, two draws and that one defeat which is a fine record by any yardstick.

The Twenty-20 triumph was also something quite special because it was their first away win in the competition, having lost last season to Leicestershire at Grace Road and Lancashire at Old Trafford.

Now the pressure will be on them against Leicestershire at Headingley on Thursday to preserve their 100 per cent home record brought about by last summer's wins against Derbyshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire.

Yorkshire did not suffer a single interruption during the competition's inaugural season but the climate was back to normal on Monday and theirs was one of several matches to experience the dreaded Duckworth-Lewis for the first time.

But a strong wind and spells of thick drizzle did not seem to worry the crowd which lapped up the entertainment, although the punters were rightly scathing in their comments about the lack of any official communication as to what was going on.

Tinny music was constantly on tap but no-one ever explained what the new target was or how many overs had been lost, so proceedings were something of a mystery to the large number of fans who could not see the main scoreboard - and even that was not too helpful.

It's all right boasting about special attractions - like the RAF Falcons parachute display team dropping in the match-ball before Yorkshire's home clash with Lancashire next week - but the basics have to be right and they were sadly lacking at Derbyshire's massively improved and refurbished county ground.

And another gripe . . . visiting fans are simply not going to put up with the hassle of 5.30pm starts, particularly on Fridays with the rush hour at its height. It took over two hours to negotiate the M1 from West Yorkshire to Derby and those who did make the tortuous journey will think twice before planning a similar trip.

Ismail Dawood made his Yorkshire debut in the Derby match and although the Dewsbury-born wicket-keeper batsman had his middle stump sent flying first ball he can still look forward to an extended trial in the first team.

Dawood is a graduate of the Yorkshire Academy who went on to have spells with Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and Glamorgan before joining Minor Counties' outfit Herefordshire and also playing for Bradford-Leeds Universities' Centre of Cricketing Excellence whom he captained last year.

Coming up 28, Dawood is anxious to make the most of this opportunity and clinch a regular place with his native county.

His experience should help and as far as I can tell he can already lay claim to being the only English-born player currently on the circuit to have turned out for four first-class counties.

Dawood's sudden emergence must be worrying for Yorkshire's Darlington-based wicketkeeper, Simon Guy, who now faces a spell in the second team trying to recover his form with the bat and also ironing out with Richard Blakey one or two faults in his wicketkeeping technique.

Guy is a perky and athletic character who has held on to a good number of catches this season but one or two have slipped through his gloves and he has also given away a few byes.

It was for these reasons that Yorkshire realised they had little real cover behind the stumps now that Blakey is considered virtually indispensable in his role as second team captain and manager and why they began to show an interest in Dawood.

But director of cricket, David Byas, has said he thinks Guy will fight his way back and that he remains a part of the first-team set-up.

Unlike other places in the side, however, there is only room for one wicketkeeper and time will tell whether it is to be Dawood or Guy.