YORKSHIRE'S leading wicket-taker, Chris Silverwood, is set to sign a contract with Middlesex which will take him to Lord's for the next two years, writes DAVID WARNER.
Silverwood, 31 on Sunday, he has been given permission to talk to Middlesex and will not be with his Headingley team-mates when they report back for duty this morning.
The former England fast bowler's career had been dogged by injuries and but for his ill-luck he would have played more than six Test matches and seven one-day internationals.
Silverwood's haul of wickets for Yorkshire is impressive - 427 in first class matches at 26.49 runs apiece and 223 at 23.07 in all one-day competitions - but he has been beset by fitness problems over the past couple of seasons and made only a limited impact.
It was hoped that an ankle operation at the end of the 2004 season would see him fully fit last summer, but he was still unable to bowl off his full run-up at the start of the campaign and he soon dropped into the second team in order to pick up his pace.
Silverwood returned for a couple of Championship games in late May but was then axed again.
He again won back his place but in the Roses match at Old Trafford in mid-August he went down with a hamsting strain and did not re-appear.
Although Silverwood still had two years of his contract to run, it was obvious that director of cricket David Byas had lost confidence in his ability to stay fit, and his departure comes as no surprise.
Middlesex prepared to take a gamble and John Emburey, their cricket coach, said: "Chris has had his injury problems in the past but sometimes we take a punt and when he is fit he can be a match-winning cricketer."
Silverwood's best bowling return for Yorkshire was seven for 93 against Kent at Headingley in 1997 when he claimed match figures of 12 for 148, and his biggest innings came last season when he struck a rapid 80 against Durham at Riverside.
l Mohammad Ashraful's hundred helped Bangladesh reach 315 for nine at the end of the day one in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Chittagong.
Ashraful, who came to the crease with the hosts on 81 for three, hit 15 fours and three sixes in a superb four-hour knock.
He eventually fell for 136 to Muttiah Muralitharan, who was celebrating his 100th Test appearance for Sri Lanka. But by then Ashraful - with his third Test century - had guided Bangladesh to a comfortable position.
Lasith Malinga, who finished with three for 55, got rid of Javed Omar when the opener edged the fifth ball of the day to first slip.
Nafees Iqbal and Habibul Bashar rebuilt until both fell to leg-spinner Malinga Bandara. Ashraful steadied the innings again before opening his shoulders as Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene chopped and changed his attack. Wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end, but Ashraful stayed for 184 balls until he holed out in the deep off Murali.
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