CHRIS Silverwood returned to Yorkshire's side for the Championship match against bottom club Derbyshire at Headingley today in what could be one last chance for the former England fast bowler to resurrect his career.

Silverwood, now 30, was dropped after the opening match of the season at Chelmsford when he conceded 72 runs to the Essex batsmen without picking up a wicket.

He was told to rediscover his pace in the second team and he missed a couple of Championship matches before returning for the games against Durham at Riverside and Essex at Headingley.

Silverwood bowled a tight opening spell in the Essex game but he still looked well below his best and with three outings having brought him just three wickets at 79.33 runs apiece he dropped into the reserves again.

Yorkshire's bowling coach, Steve Oldham, insists that Silverwood is up to the mark but he needs to start taking wickets to convince director of cricket David Byas that he has still got it in him to bowl quickly and effectively.

Byas said: "Chris has now got the chance to show that he is as good a bowler as he was before the ankle injury on which he had an operation at the end of last season.

"I will be absolutely delighted if he can show us that he is because Chris is a very experienced bowler and we need him in the side taking wickets."

With the Headingley pitch unlikely to assist the slow bowlers, Silverwood came in for leg-spinner, Mark Lawson, in what was the only change from the side which so spectacularly completed the double over Leicestershire at Scarborough on Saturday.

Left-arm paceman David Lucas was 12th man at North Marine Road and he may have won the vote over Silverwood in today's game had he not bowled so disappointingly against Warwickshire Bears on Sunday when he failed to pick up a wicket and generally lacked control.

Winning their last two Championship matches has seen Yorkshire lift themselves into the third promotion spot and they still enjoy a game in hand over the teams around them.

They are the only unbeaten side in either division whereas opponents, Derbyshire, are the only Second Division team not yet to have won a match, although they are getting stronger and against Durham they made 539-7 declared in their second innings after being forced to follow on, Australian Michael Di Venuto hitting a double century.

Rain caused that game to end in a draw but in setting a target of 330 with plenty of time remaining Derbyshire showed they are prepared to gamble to win.

Yorkshire: Sayers, Wood, McGrath, Jaques, Harvey, White, Dawood, Bresnan, Dawson, Silverwood, Kruis.

Updated: 10:31 Tuesday, July 26, 2005