YORKSHIRE'S Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey has broken his right thumb and will be out of action for at least two weeks.

It means that he will miss the totesport League game against Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday followed by the Championship match with Somerset at Taunton next week.

Harvey will also struggle to be fit in time for the Roses match at Old Trafford which starts on Tuesday, August 16, but Yorkshire will want him back if at all possible for the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy semi-final showdown with Hampshire at the Rose Bowl on the following Saturday.

The damage was done on the final day of Yorkshire's Championship match with Derbyshire at Headingley when Harvey clung on at the second attempt to a fast catch in the slips from Travis Friend, the former Duncombe Park overseas player from Zimbabwe.

His absence from the side will be badly missed because Harvey is having a much improved season this year, having scored 552 Championship runs at an average of 46 and taken 17 wickets at 33.70 runs apiece.

Harvey was not due to play in Yorkshire's three-day first class friendly with Bangladesh 'A' which began at Headingley today because he and several other senior players were being rested.

The game gives some of the youngsters a chance to show they can shine at first team level and left-hander Andrew Gale and wicketkeeper Simon Guy will be particularly keen to do well.

Both enjoyed some senior outings last season but neither has been chosen for a competitive match so far and they will be anxious to state their case again, as will fast bowler John Blain, who has been similarly overlooked.

David Wainwright, the 20-year-old left-arm slow bowler who made his totesport League debut last Sunday when he replaced the injured Richard Dawson, will also be keen to stake a claim now that pitches are more helpful to spinners.

Wainwright has now finished for the summer at Loughborough University where he was a leading wicket-taker in the Loughborough UCCE side.

Updated: 10:49 Wednesday, August 03, 2005