YORK'S batsmen could face England pace ace Darren Gough at Clifton Park on Saturday.

Gough has been pencilled in for an appearance with the Yorkshire Academy side in the Yorkshire League as he recovers from two cartilage operations.

Gough had a net session with his Yorkshire colleagues at Wantage Road today before the start of their crucial Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy fourth round match against Northamptonshire.

He also met up with them at Northamptonshire's ground for a training session yesterday afternoon and Yorkshire coach Wayne Clark said: "Darren is increasing his work rate each day. On Monday he bowled eight balls off his long run at Old Trafford and with us he sent down 20 deliveries.

"He will probably bowl a bit longer still today and everything continues to go well he may turn out for the Yorkshire Academy side on Saturday.

"There is a slight chance he will be fit for Yorkshire Phoenix's game against Durham Dynamos at Riverside on Sunday but it is more likely that he will play in a couple of one-day matches for the Second XI next week."

Clark said this morning that Yorkshire would not finalise their side until they saw how much grass has been taken off the Northants pitch and they also wanted to check if Matthew Hoggard had fully recovered from his exertions in the Test match before deciding whether to play him.

"Matthew bowled a tremendous amount of overs and was very tired afterwards and we will have to wait and see how he feels," added Clark.

There are reports that England had not wanted Hoggard and their other pace bowlers to take part in today's round of C&G matches but had eventually agreed to leave it up to the players concerned.

Ironically, Hoggard could not squeeze into Yorkshire's side when they were knocked out of the C&G Trophy by Northants at the fourth round stage two years' ago, despite having just made his England debut against the West Indies at Lord's.

It was a decision which Yorkshire lived to regret because they bowled badly and then suffered a batting collapse as Northants pulled off a shock win.

Yorkshire simply cannot afford to lose today against a side who are experiencing almost as many on-the-field problems as themselves.

Northants are anchored to the bottom of the Second Division table in the Championship - the same position Yorkshire hold in the First Division - but both sides are doing a little better in their respective divisions in the Norwich Union League with two wins each.

If Yorkshire do lose, then according to acting captain Richard Blakey they are likely to start making team changes in a desperate attempt to get themselves out of their most serious situation for many years.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire's cricket and general committees yesterday discussed the team's current plight and Clark was asked to give an explanation for the slump in form.

"He was given a hard time but we accepted his view that there would very soon be an improvement in results," said cricket chairman Bob Platt.

Even so, Platt has insisted that once the team get back from their Championship encounter with Sussex at Arundel next week, nets will be erected at Headingley and bowlers will be made to cut down on the number of no-balls they have been sending down this season.

SCOREBOARD

Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy

Fourth round

Northampton: Northants v Yorkshire

Chelmsford: Essex v Lancashire

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Durham

Canterbury: Kent v Warwickshire

Grace Road: Leicestershire v Sussex

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire

Taunton: Somerset v Hampshire

The Oval: Surrey v Glamorgan

Tour Match

Hove: Sri Lanka v West Indies 'A'

Updated: 11:25 Wednesday, June 19, 2002