YORKSHIRE have welcomed back an old Aussie friend in Darren Lehmann and also greeted a new one in versatile all-rounder Ian Harvey who has arrived at Headingley after five successful seasons with Gloucestershire.

Slate grey skies and pouring rain meant that the pair were restricted to practising in the indoor nets as Yorkshire stepped up their preparations yesterday for their opening Championship match of the season against Essex next week.

The weather may have been dull for the dynamic pair's first introduction to the new season but the forecast of a sunny summer of Yorkshire cricket could not be more promising with Lehmann and Harvey both in the side together.

They have each deservedly earned reputations for being among the most talented and exciting players in the world and the fans are virtually guaranteed a glut of runs when they are at the crease.

And they are bound to come at a gush rather than a trickle, Harvey having scooped the Walter Lawrence Trophy for the fastest century of the season - 61 balls - for Gloucestershire in 2001 and Lehmann snatching it off him the following year with his 89-ball century for Yorkshire.

Harvey is currently one of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack's five cricketers-of-the-year, an honour which went to Lehmann three years' ago.

"It is a big thrill to be here and to have the chance to play at Headingley for Yorkshire," said Harvey.

"It is also great to have Darren Lehmann alongside me to show me the ropes and moving to a new club has given me a new lease of life. I feel refreshed and ready for the action and I cannot wait for next Wednesday and the first match against Essex."

Harvey's considerable presence in the Gloucestershire side turned them into the kings of one-day cricket with five trophies in the past five years but towards the end of last season he felt the time had come for a move.

"I didn't think they were doing their best to keep me and when they could not guarantee me a two-year contract I decided not to go back," he said.

"I had a chat with Darren who told me how good it was here at Yorkshire and it made it easy for me to accept their offer. Now I want to help bring success with me and I will be working hard to achieve the massive goal of promotion in both the Championship and the National League."

How much Yorkshire will see of Lehmann and Harvey during the first half of the season should become clearer next week when Australia select their squads for the tour of Zimbabwe but the pair are uncertain of what will happen in view of the current turmoil surrounding Zimbabwe cricket.

"If Zimbabwe drop 12 or 13 of the best players and field virtually a Second XI it will be a bit tough on them against a full-strength Australia," said Harvey.

Yorkshire did not win a Championship match under Lehmann's captaincy in 2002 and soon after he had left early to join up with Australia the titleholders suffered the indignity of relegation to Division Two.

It is a situation which he is eager to help redress. "We just didn't play well that summer," he confessed. "I played in ten matches and scored 1,136 runs and Richard Blakey also made it into four figures but the rest of the batsmen were disappointing and we didn't bowl well enough either.

"It is very important that we get back into Division One this season and become a force in English cricket once again."

Persistent rain in Georgetown washed out England's game against Guyana yesterday without a ball being bowled - their only warm-up match before the start of the one-day series against West Indies.

Updated: 10:30 Saturday, April 17, 2004