Australian Greg Blewett and ex-Somerset batsman Richard Harden both make their Yorkshire debuts in the opening championship match of the season against Gloucestershire at Headingley, starting tomorrow.

And in a strong line-up Yorkshire are also able to include Darren Gough and Gavin Hamilton who will soon be leaving to join England and Scotland respectively as their countries warm up for the World Cup.

The only player missing through injury is left-arm swing bowler Paul Hutchison, who is still nursing a bad back, but Chris Silverwood has been left out purely as a precaution after having had a neck problem during the winter.

"The weather has not allowed us to play much cricket since returning from our pre-season tour of South Africa and because we have Darren and Gavin with us for this game we felt it would be better for Chris to get into his stride later this week in a game between the Seconds and the Academy," said Yorkshire skipper David Byas.

Blewett, who played for Australia in the final Test against the West Indies in the Caribbean recently, flew into England the weekend before last and he was at Headingley yesterday after a few days' holiday with his girlfriend.

He had hoped to acclimatise to English conditions in a one-day practice match but the ground was too wet for the game to go ahead.

Yorkshire's start-of-season lunch was being held today after which a delegation from the club, including Byas, were dashing off to London to meet Yorkshire MPs to discuss the funding of the £11m Headingley redevelopment plan.

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