YORKSHIRE County Cricket Club chief executive Chris Hassell has reported that there is an additional worry over whether overseas star Darren Lehmann will be available for next season.

Hassell said at a meeting at Headingley yesterday of Yorkshire's Central District members that he understood that Australia are to enter a team in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in September.

Yorkshire are already aware that Lehmann will be missing at the start of the season and towards the end if he is picked for Australia's tours of India and Pakistan.

Hassell said he has sent a Fax to the Australian Board of Control for precise dates.

England have not had a cricket team accepted for the Commonwealth Games because they are unable to put out their strongest team.Hassell said that if Lehmann is unavailable and Yorkshire seek another overseas player they will want one on only a one-year contract, which means that whoever they chose could not have previously played county cricket.

Although Yorkshire are not believed to have made any approaches so far, it is likely that the cricket committee have privately come up with one or two names should it prove necessary to replace the prolific Lehmann.

Committee member David Storr reported that the catering and bar at the indoor cricket school at Headingley made a net operating surplus of £12,393, a 172 per cent increase on the previous year.

The refurbishment of the bar area had cost £15,000 and after it had been completed the drink sales had gone up by 15 per cent and catering by 37 per cent.

The meeting was often fractious with some members complaining about the way the Headingley-Durkar issue had been handled.

Ken Harvey and Brian Lakin both expressed concern that their resolution which contained a reference to Lady Byford had been kept off the annual meeting agenda.

There was a mixed reaction from the audience when Storr said: "It seems certain members in this club are wanting to bring it down.

We should work in one direction and make it great again.

"I am not a 'yes' man but I think our president, Sir Lawrence Byford, has tried very hard to do what is best for Yorkshire and I will continue to back him."

Hassell reminded members that talks between Yorkshire and Headingley over the county club's future at the ground would resume today but no statements would be made by either side until they were completed.

Also last night, Yorkshire held a meeting at York Cricket Club for North District members which was attended by committee representatives Robert Hilliam, who is seeking re-election, and Peter Quinn.

Reporting on last season's cricket, Quinn said he felt the spin bowling had lacked effectiveness on some occasions and that the batting had often relied heavily on Lehmann who appeared to have more mental toughness than some of his colleagues.

Quinn said that the massive rises in players' wages had resulted in some pruning of the staff and was the reason why Peter Hartley had been released, but some members questioned the wisdom of letting go young cricketers like Alex and Zac Morris and others felt that Australian Michael Bevan had been poorly treated in not been asked back this season.

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