Darren Gough and Anthony McGrath are both battling to get fit in time for when Yorkshire open their defence of the County Championship against Surrey at Headingley on April 24, writes David Warner.

The pair have been training with Yorkshire this week but Gough has still to have a bowl following an operation on his right cartilage a month ago while McGrath's groin injury has so far prevented him from batting.

If all goes according to plan, McGrath will have a net on Friday and Gough will begin to turn his arm over next week.

"The knee was a bit inflamed on Monday but the specialist is pleased with my progress and I am hopeful of being fit for the start," said Gough.

McGrath, plagued since the New Year with the recurrence of a groin injury, is the more doubtful of the two. He was forced to rest up after injections almost a month ago and has just started training again but he could face another operation if he does not make a quick recovery.

Yorkshire coach Wayne Clark said Craig White was also suffering a slight groin strain but it was expected to clear up fairly soon. At the moment, White, Matthew Hoggard and Michael Vaughan are all on time off following England's tour of New Zealand but Hoggard popped in to Headingley at the start of the week to say 'hello' to his Yorkshire team-mates.

The dry weather has meant Yorkshire have been able to enjoy outdoor net sessions in excellent conditions. Now the first team squad are eagerly awaiting the return of their new captain, Darren Lehmann, in a week's time. Australia yesterday completed their tour of South Africa and Lehmann is due to fly home for a few days before coming to England.

Yorkshire today took a squad of 14 players to Riverside for a couple of days of practice matches with Durham.

Meanwhile, the Bradford-Leeds Universities' Centre of Excellence side were today playing a 50-overs match against an Essex club side at Bradford Park Avenue in readiness for when they open their season with a three-day game against Leicestershire at Grace Road, starting on Saturday week.

A week later, on April 20, Leeds-Bradford are Yorkshire's first opponents of the season in a three-day match at Headingley which will fine tune Yorkshire for the big clash with Surrey.

Updated: 11:47 Wednesday, April 10, 2002