Mention chocolate fountains to most people and you will get a negative response, but not from Yorkshire batsman Anthony McGrath.

He made a business enterprise out of them during the winter and hopes that things will go just as sweetly on the field of play this summer.

For the first time in several years, the winter months just gone were free for the player and he made good use of them by moving home to Menston, near Bradford, with his partner, Shelley.

That was in October and around the same time the pair of them, along with Anthony's elder brother Damien, set up their own business of hiring out chocolate fountains to wedding receptions.

"Basically, it is a tiered machine with chocolate in the middle which cascades down," said McGrath.

"It is quite a novel idea and is becoming an increasingly popular feature at weddings.

"There didn't seem to be any of these fountains for hire in Yorkshire so we got a couple and they are in great demand with the business really having taken off."

Since the beginning of March, however, McGrath's mind has been focussed solely on cricket.

McGrath (pictured above) was suddenly and unexpectedly elevated to England status a couple of years' ago but the fact that he was not given an extended run meant that his game generally suffered.

He stood down from the Yorkshire captaincy because he knew he could not keep his mind on county and country at the same time, but then he played far less cricket than he needed through trailing around as England's 12th man.

This time, however, he knew he could put his heart and soul into Yorkshire's preparations without having to leave the side a few weeks into the season.

"I have had no injury problems during training and feel in very good touch," said McGrath, who has played some effective innings already without making a big score - apart from his ruthless 203 for the Seconds against Durham Seconds which contained 29 fours and six sixes.

Injuries, England calls and occasional patches of poor form mean that, despite his undoubted class, McGrath has yet to complete 1,000 first class runs in a season and the 29-year-old is determined to reach that before the summer is out.

"I hope it will be my most successful season yet," said McGrath.

"I feel I have played well for the last two or three years but I have not had the amount of games I would have liked.

"You lose momentum when you are in for four or so Championship games and then miss the next four but if all goes well I should be available for all 16 Championship matches this summer.

"I will be aiming to make around 1,500 runs if I can stay fit although I know that Headingley can be difficult sometimes for batsmen."

He added: "I feel that at 29 I am around the peak of my career.

"I have worked my batting plan out and I still enjoy being called upon to bowl when necessary but perhaps it may not be quite so often this season with having more options available."

McGrath thought a lack of consistency had let Yorkshire down over the last couple of years, saying: "Some days we have been great and on other days we have been poor, but if first and foremost we can maintain our consistency I think we have a great chance.

"We need to score 400-plus in the first innings and then keep opponents pegged back to below three an over. If we can do that we should get promoted with three going up out of nine.

"We have started the Championship season well with a good win over Somerset and if we can continue winning and build up a lead of 20 or 30 points it could be very hard for others to claw back.

"Fortunately at Yorkshire, team spirit has never been a problem and the younger and senior guys are getting along very well together. What we all want is to bring success to Yorkshire and make up for all the recent disappointments."

Updated: 10:16 Saturday, May 07, 2005