YORKSHIRE have made sure that they will be fully prepared for the new Championship season by fixing up two three-day friendly matches at the beginning of April against County Champions Warwickshire and Sussex.

They will visit Edgbaston to play Warwickshire on April 1-3 and then move straight on to Hove where they will play Sussex over the next three days.

Yorkshire recently decided to scrap their proposed pre-season tour to Australia because too few supporters had been tempted into making the trip, but director of cricket David Byas was determined that his team would still be fully prepared for the first Championship match of the season which starts against Essex at Chelmsford on Wednesday, April 13.

"I plan to take a squad of 13 to Edgbaston and Hove and we should be able to get in a lot of meaninful cricket over the six days," said Byas.

"If the weather is poor then we will be offered indoor facilities so we will to train and practice properly but the more outdoor cricket we can get in the better."

Although most of Yorkshire's players are turning up at Headingley at various stages over the winter months, they will officially report back for duty on March 1 and a month later they will begin virtually six months of non-stop cricket.

Yorkshire were let down last summer by a fast bowling attack weakened by indifferent form, injuries and Test calls and the need to make a signing became more pressing at the end of the season when Steve Kirby was released from his contract at his own request and went on to sign for Gloucestershire.

Byas is confident that Yorkshire will now start out with a much sharper attack than they ended with last season following the signing of Nottinghashire left-armer David Lucas.

Chris Silverwood, plagued by ankle injuries, has had an operation which should have cured the problem, and captain Craig White will be back in action now that he has fully recovered from the cartilage operation which caused him to miss the second half of the programme.

Young England fast bowlers Tim Bresnan and Nick Thornicroft, are both gaining in experience; John Blain, signed from Northamptonshire at the start of last season, went on to have the second best strike rate in the country in 2004, and Australian all-rounder, Ian Harvey, will be keen to make amends for disappointing form so far for his new county.

In addition, Ajmal Shahzad, the first home grown ethnic player to turn out for Yorkshire, will be striving to push his way into the side, while Richard Pyrah has also shown that his medium-pacers can pose a real threat.

Updated: 11:10 Thursday, December 09, 2004