Yorkshire's Anthony McGrath is praying for plenty of blue skies and sunshine at Headingley next week so that he can put the final touches to his preparations for England's one-day series in the Caribbean which starts on April 16.
McGrath, who bravely stood down from the Yorkshire captaincy during the winter because he felt that his England career meant he could not concentrate fully on leading his county, leaves on Tuesday week for the West Indies along with three other one-day specialists in Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Ian Blackwell (Somerset) and James Kirtley (Sussex).
"The original plan was that I should spend next week tuning up at the National Academy at Loughborough but when it was learned that Yorkshire are aiming to start their outdoor nets on Monday it was agreed that it would be far better for me to stay and practise with them," said McGrath.
"My indoor work has gone very well, both at Loughborough and with Yorkshire, but nothing is quite the same as playing outside and I just hope that the weather stays fine and allows us some decent spells of cricket."
McGrath said he was delighted that England had made such a magnificent start in the Test series by winning the first two games and he felt the high morale should easily rub off on to the one-day party.
"It's not only cricket followers over here who have been thrilled by England's performance so far, even people who don't generally watch the game have got great pleasure from our success," said McGrath.
Yorkshire fans will certainly be keeping their fingers crossed that McGrath gets the opportunity to shine in the Caribbean but he knows that it will not be easy to establish himself.
During the early part of the winter, McGrath toured Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with the one-day squad but spent most of his time watching the action from the pavilion.
"I almost made the side for the first of the three one-day internationals in Bangladesh but in the end someone else was preferred and because England won pretty convincingly I did not get another chance," said McGrath.
He captained England in one of their early games in Sri Lanka but missed out on the first international, which Sri Lanka won easily, and rain washed out the two remaining games.
With only a single limited overs match before the series against the West Indies gets underway, McGrath is aware that he may find himself sitting it out again unless he can make an early impression.
"I obviously want England to do very well in the first game but if they do win comfortably and I don't play it will not be easy to force my way into the side," he admitted.
Having sacrificed the Yorkshire captaincy to concentrate more fully on his England duties it will be tough indeed on McGrath if he is now unable to make his mark in the West Indies.
He is, however, enjoying the time he is spending with Yorkshire pre-season.
"David Byas (director of cricket) and the coaches have worked out a very good programme and the lads seem to be making excellent progress," he said.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire members are expected to quiz officials about the situation regarding Darren Lehmann at tomorrow's annual meeting of the club at Headingley.
As reported exclusively in the Evening Press last week, Lehmann could miss large parts of the season because of commitments with Australia.
On Wednesday, Lehmann rapped out his second century in the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka and he seems certain to be included in Australia's party for the trip to Zimbabwe from May 17 to June 12, but probably not for the one-day part of the tour.
Although Yorkshire will not disclose names, the Press understands that they have one or two possible alternatives in mind should a replacement be necessary, but at the moment both Lehmann and fellow Aussie Ian Harvey are due to arrive at Headingley in the week before the start of the first class season.
Updated: 11:10 Friday, March 26, 2004
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