Once today's opening Benson & Hedges Cup encounter with Durham at Riverside is resolved, Yorkshire will focus their attentions on tomorrow's Roses encounter at Headingley which marks the start of the 2000 home programme.

CLASS OF 2000: Yorkshire County Cricket Club 2000 squad line

Yorkshire, last year's Super Cup finalists, are only too well aware that they have by far the inferior record in previous B&H encounters between the sides.

In the 12 matches since they first met in 1972, Yorkshire have emerged winners on four occasions while Lancashire have finished as victors eight times.

The most memorable of the clashes was at Old Trafford in the 1996 final which Yorkshire lost by one wicket off the very last ball but Yorkshire gained some measure of revenge for that defeat the following season by winning a group match by 49 runs at the same venue.

It is ten years since they met at Headingley, however, when Lancashire won by five wickets, and Yorkshire's last success on the ground was in 1987 when they won by 75 runs on their way to lifting the Cup at Lord's.

Lancashire are expected to be at full-strength, apart from Andrew Flintoff being played only as a batsman because of a strain, while Yorkshire remain without Richard Harden, who has broken a bone in his hand, and Anthony McGrath, who should be fit again next week following an injection on a knee problem.

Left-arm fast bowler Paul Hutchison, who was not considered ready for the Durham match because he is still working on his new run-up, is likely to remain sidelined unless someone suffers an injury today or bowls particularly badly.

Included in Lancashire's squad are two significant new signings in India's captain, the left-handed Saurav Ganguly, who comes as their overseas player, and Australian-born all-rounder Joe Scuderi.

He is immediately eligible for county cricket because he holds an Italian passport and is a European Union national.

Yorkshire, beaten finalists last year, are joint favourites with Lancashire and Surrey to win the Benson & Hedges competition. Corals also make them joint favourites with Surrey for the NatWest Trophy at 9-2.

Gloucestershire, the B & H holder,are 20-1 to retain the trophy.

Yorkshire opener Michael Vaughan reckons his feelings about his match-winning 69 for England against South Africa in January have been dampened in the light of the Hansie Cronje affair.

His man-of-the-match performance took England to a two wicket victory in the Test at Centurion after the double forfeit by the captains - the first such arrangement in Test history.

There is now going to be an inquiry into that match as cricket's authorities try to get to the bottom of match-fixing allegations involving the South Africans.

The International Cricket Council is contacting its major delegates to see whether they would agree to a summit to discuss corruption in the game.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.