ALL eyes were on Craig White in Yorkshire's Championship match against Somerset at Taunton today with the England all-rounder due at some stage to have his first bowl for the county in almost a year.

The last time White turned his arm over in a Championship match was in the Roses game at Headingley last July after which he was used only as a batsman because of back problems.

Now he feels fit enough following a pre-season rib operation to bowl again but Yorkshire may be expecting more of White than he is able to deliver.

In the eight matches in which he bowled last summer, White captured only ten wickets at a costly 45.6 runs apiece and he needs to be more productive than that if he is to give the attack a cutting edge.

There was a scare on Wednesday morning when White reported in with a swollen knee, but it responded to physiotherapy treatment and he was later able to declare himself fit.

Yorkshire went into the game confident that they will regain some of their form following a three week break from Championship cricket, but if they should lose, then their chances of promotion will look grim.

They have a poor track record at Taunton in recent years and last season they were beaten by seven wickets on the ground in a game which they should have won. They allowed Somerset to recover from 75-6 in the first innings when Ian Blackwell flogged Matthew Hoggard on his way to a rapid century and then in the second innings Marcus Trescothick guided Somerset to their 263 target with a fiercely struck 134.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire are optimistic that at least 10,000 spectators will turn up at Headingley for next Tuesday's one-day international between England and Zimbabwe.

Around 8,000 tickets have already been sold and Zimbabwe's shock win over England at Trent Bridge yesterday in the first of the NatWest Series matches is expected to boost interest.

Yorkshire's director of market, Ian Bishop, said that the success of the Twenty20 Cup competition had helped to sell tickets for England's match. Many fans who came to Headingley for these games also bought tickets for next Tuesday," he said.

Updated: 09:50 Friday, June 27, 2003