IT WILL be home from home for off-spinner Richard Dawson when Yorkshire visit Exmouth tomorrow for a tricky third tie with Minor Counties' side Devon in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.

But although Dawson will be among familiar faces he has no intention of doing the opposition any favours on the field of play.

Dawson, 23, played for Devon in 1999 while studying at Exeter University and in that year's corresponding round of the competition he turned out for them against Worcestershire on the same Exmouth ground.

Under the watchful eye of his skipper Peter Roebuck, a former Somerset captain, Dawson bowled ten tidy overs during which he picked up the wickets of Worcestershire openers Paul Pollard and Karl Spiring at a cost of only 32 runs and although Devon eventually lost by 45 runs they gave a good account of themselves.

"I was not going to get into the Yorkshire team at that stage and Devon gave me the chance of playing against county opposition which I really appreciated and it was a good eye-opener for what was to come later on," said Dawson.

"Devon have always been a good side and a couple of years after I was there Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill played for them.

"I still have a lot of friends around Exeter and I keep in touch with them and expect a few of them to be around tomorrow.

"Devon will definitely be no pushover for us and they will not rack up and roll over, particularly after beating Leicestershire in the previous round.

"Everyone wants to beat Yorkshire when they play us and there is no such thing as an easy game these days."

Dawson has had a lean time of it since losing his Test place and he had problems with his action last year but he believes that the bad times are now over.

"I am just going out there and enjoying my cricket more this season," he said. "Last year I didn't enjoy the game as much as I should have done because I was not doing well but now I am trying not to worry about things.

"As soon as I got the ball in my hand at the start of this season I felt much better and it did me a power of good being able to bowl 30 overs in my first Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

"I am not even thinking about my Test career at the moment. I just want to hit some poles and score some runs for Yorkshire and take things game by game."

Two of the players who were team-mates of Dawson in that 1999 match with Worcestershire are in the Devon squad. They are hard-hitting batsman Andy Pugh, whose 46-ball 54 against Worcestershire included four sixes, and Australian-born all-rounder Neil Hancock, who has already picked up two C&G man-of-the-match awards.

Matthew Hoggard returns from the Lord's Test to boost Yorkshire's injury-hit attack and off-spinner-batsman Andy Gray, the former Scarborough and Wilberfoss player, is also in the squad after making a full recovery from a broken bone in his wrist.

Wicketkeeper batsman Richard Blakey stays in the team in order to give it more experience and Yorkshire also keep faith with left-hander Andrew Gale who made his first team debut on Sunday against Worcestershire Royals.

Yorkshire from: Wood, White, Lumb, Jaques, McGrath, Gale, Blakey, Dawson, Bresnan, Thornicroft, Hoggard, Gray.

Devon from: Hunt, Lye, Suppiah, Dawson, Pugh, Mole, Hancock, Court, Philander, Procter, Aqueel Ahman, Bishop.

Updated: 10:43 Tuesday, May 25, 2004