YORKSHIRE Phoenix bring down the curtain on the 2003 season at Headingley tomorrow when they battle it out with Gloucestershire Gladiators but even if they give a rousing performance they will be reluctant to take a bow.

Victory cannot do anything to help Phoenix escape relegation but at least it can end the possibility of them finishing bottom of the First Division table.

Such a prospect is a bitter pill to swallow, particularly as Lancashire will end up as Second Division champions if they beat Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

Lancashire's success this season and Yorkshire's demise means that the Roses rivals will miss meeting each other again in the competition next summer which is bound to hit both clubs financially.

Although Yorkshire have been on the wrong side of some very narrow defeats they cannot complain at their plight because they have been guilty of some pretty poor cricket which has had them grovelling around at the foot of the table for practically the whole of the season.

They began it all right with a convincing seven-wicket win over Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston but they then had the stuffing knocked out of them with six consecutive defeats from which they were never able to recover.

The problem has been that none of the batsmen has consistently made high scores and none of the bowlers has put together a string of reasonable performances.

Only Michael Lumb among the batsmen has topped 400 runs and even he went through a thin patch in mid-season after a couple of early half-centuries.

How Yorkshire must be wishing that New Zealand captain Matthew Fleming had been available for more than half-a-dozen matches because he could certainly have boosted the runs total.

Fleming slammed 90 in his first National League match against Surrey at The Oval but it was his magnificent unbeaten 139 off Warwickshire's attack under the Headingley floodlights for which he will be chiefly remembered.

Yuvraj Singh, who came with the reputation of being one of India's brightest young stars, was unable to show off his talents and he managed a mere 169 runs in eight innings with a top score of 50 against Leicestershire at Headingley.

Ironically, Yuvraj was back to his best last weekend for India 'B' when his 111 from 88 balls helped his side to an easy win over India 'A'.

The weakness of the bowling is highlighted by the fact that the leading wicket-taker with only one game to go is Ryan Sidebottom with a mere 15 dismissals.

The most consistent of the bowlers has been Tim Bresnan, who has 13 wickets, but unaccountably he has been squeezed out of the side for the last three matches.

Injuries, Test calls and various misfortunes with their overseas players have all contributed to Yorkshire's poor showing in the National League but there is one area in which they can offer no excuses at all.

In their 15 games they have given away a total of 130 runs in wides and 32 in no-balls, plus all of the runs which were scored as a result of the extra deliveries. It all goes to show that Yorkshire have been wide of the mark in more ways than one this season.

Updated: 09:52 Saturday, September 20, 2003