Yorkshire have had their moments in the fortnight devoted entirely to Twenty20 Cup cricket but they have once again fallen well short of being a leading side in this frenzied, condensed version of the game.

The Aussie pair of Phil Jaques and Ian Harvey have flung the bat to good effect on occasions and Tim Bresnan and Richard Dawson have been admirably economic with the ball.

Overall, however, Yorkshire did not really click as a team and unfortunately they were no match on the night for quarter-final qualifiers Lancashire who beat them by five wickets with 19 balls to spare at Headingley and then went on to destroy them by a record margin of 110 runs at Old Trafford.

Watching the highs and lows of the side over their eight matches set me wondering what would be my best alternative Yorkshire team for Twenty20 cricket comprised of players at the height of their careers who have represented the county at various stages over the 30 years that I have followed their fortunes?

It is interesting to speculate how they would fare against Craig White and Co but, of course, it is one of those questions which it is impossible to answer.

Tragically, two of the players I would have in my XI are no longer with us, former captains David Bairstow and Phil Carrick having suffered untimely deaths.

Bairstow would, of course, have loved Twenty20 cricket with all of its noise and drama and non-stop action. He would have shouted and bellowed his way through all of it, whether wielding the bat, flinging himself around behind the stumps or sitting in the dugout.

Bairstow would have easily adapted to playing the sort of outrageous shots that are so much a part of the Twenty20 scene and the only danger would be that having tried reverse sweeps and pulls he would never leave them alone.

Carrick could also handle the bat himself but he would be in the side for his slow left-arm bowling, spinners having proved to be quite economical at the game.

Although he was no great turner of the ball, he became very good at restricting runs in one-day cricket by slanting the ball in at the batsman's feet and I think he would still have managed this well in Twenty20 cricket without straying outside leg stump which gives away a run virtually every time.

Because slow bowlers play such an important role, I am going to include Ray Illingworth - but at half the age of when he last played for Yorkshire in 1983 in his 52nd year.

Richard Dawson has been very effective this season and if he can take wickets and keep runs down with his off-spin then Illi would certainly be able to do so.

With his keen analytical mind, the former England captain would have to be Yorkshire's leader in this very much shortened form of the game. It may seem simple to play but snap decisions have to be made all the time and you need someone in charge who will not lose his cool - as Bairstow most probably might.

Opening the batting would be Ashley Metcalfe and at the other end would be Yorkshire-born Barry Wood, who would be forgiven for playing for Lancashire for most of his career.

Even in Championship cricket, Metcalfe always had a touch of the Twenty20s about him and he could never resist bringing out all of his shots at a very early stage in his innings. This sometimes brought about his downfall but he was never less than exciting to watch and there would be no slow starts with him around.

Wood was a great exponent of the one-day game and just as important as his batting would be his medium pace bowling which always served Lancashire so well when they were the kings of limited overs cricket.

I am allowing myself one overseas player in the side and that would be Darren Lehmann who has not yet had a stab at Twenty20 cricket but is almost certain to be marvellously good at it - and vastly entertaining. As well as hitting the boundaries he would find the gaps for the ones and twos.

Coming in at No 4 would be John Hampshire who was such a good striker of the ball and could hit straight. which is where many of the runs should come from. After him is Neil Hartley, as fast as anyone in the field and whose batting and bowling meant he was good in all departments.

Bairstow and Illingworth take up the next two spots, although the order can be swapped around, and next in is Graham Stevenson. He would send in the ball like a bullet from the boundary with his powerful arm when fielding, hit it to kingdom come when batting and move it around when bowling. He came on the scene too early, he was tailor-made for this sort of game.

Carrick is at No 9 followed by Chris Old, who is there to open the bowling with Darren Gough, the great showman being impossible to ignore - although he would have something to say about going in last.

So my team is: Darren Gough, John Hampshire, David Bairstow, Neil Hartley, Darren Lehmann, Ashley Metcalfe, Chris Old, Barry Wood, Phil Carrick, Graham Stevenson and Ray Illingworth.

Stand by and watch the fireworks.

Updated: 10:36 Saturday, July 09, 2005