TESTS will come early for York Cricket Club, who open their Oxbridge Yorkshire ECB Premier League campaign away to Scarborough tomorrow.

Nigel Durham, the league's top keeper in 2002, will lead the side again but the count-down to summer has been something of a good and bad news affair.

Most crucially, leading run-scorer Nick Kay, has sustained a serious knee injury on the rugby field and is unlikely to play much, if at all, this summer.

Also, overseas player for the last three seasons, Nash Stone, will be returning to Australia during the summer and will play in the 2nd XI in the York Senior League. He scored around 1,400 runs in his three seasons in the Yorkshire League as well as taking 140 wickets.

As York glimpsed a top three place in midsummer, but finished ninth, there will be a challenge to replace these runs and much responsibility will rest on the shoulders of senior batters, Marcus Wood, Simon Mason, Steve Piercy and Mike Mortimer.

The good news is that Yorkshire's England Under-19 off-spinning allrounder, Dan Broadbent, has joined the club. He toured Australia earlier this year and played in two Tests.

As overseas player, the club looks forward to welcoming New Zealander Jeetan Patel, an off-spinner who has had some 30 first class matches for Wellington and who will miss three matches as he is currently in Sri Lanka with his national squad.

The pace bowling will rest on Greg How and Rob Flackand the opening bowling spot will probably rest between former junior James Pringle who has returned from Easingwold and Yorkshire U17 squad man Duncan Snell who joins from Sheriff Hutton Bridge.

Pringle joins his leg-spinning younger brother, Thomas, who is also a Yorkshire Under 17 player.

An even younger newcomer is Stephen Sacks, from Acomb CC, who is in the Yorkshire U16 squad.

Scarborough, who last season were pipped into ninth place by York, will enjoy the return of batsmen Neil Elvidge and Damon Gormley from the Bradford League.

Gormley formerly played for both Scarborough and then York in the early 1990s.

Fast bowler Rich Gilbert has switched back to the North Marine Road outfit from York, while skipper Darren Harland is one of the league's heaviest scoring batsmen.

Meanwhile, York's second XI will be led by Andy Kay and finished fifth in a crowded middle order after having promised to obtain a promotion spot.

Like their seniors they crumbled when the chance came. However, they promise to be stronger especially with Stone in the side, especially if he proves fit to bowl as the season progresses and newcomers Gareth Lindop from Bishops Stortford and Will Warne from Sussex adding more batting power.

There will be pressure on the attack to perform but with all-rounder James Pringle and the ever-improving Richard Carroll to supplement veteran Marcus Bellerby, there is cause for hope.

Updated: 12:16 Friday, April 25, 2003