With Yorkshire in the thick of their Twenty20 Cup programme, now is an opportune time to look back on the progress they have made so far in the Frizzell Championship and the Totesport League.

Before the season began, Yorkshire's director of cricket David Byas said that his team intended to put behind them the huge disappointments of the previous summer and to aim for promotion in both competitions.

Although Yorkshire went off the boil to some extent after a sizzling start to the season, Byas can feel reasonably satisfied with the way things have gone and they remain well on course for a promotion double.

They have recently slipped out of the third promotion spot in both the Championship and the totesport League but that is only because they have played fewer games than all of the teams around them and they should soon get back among the leaders, barring any catastrophes.

In the Championship, they have a match in hand over the three teams above them and are six-and-a-half points behind third-placed Lancashire, while in the Totesport League they have three games in hand over leaders Durham and third-placed Leicestershire and have played one fewer game than Sussex who are in second spot.

They remain unbeaten at home in any competition and have, of course, made it through to the quarter-finals of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy where they will meet Northamptonshire at Headingley on July 16.

Looking more closely at the Championship, the person who has probably done more than anyone else to keep them among the promotion hopefuls is Kolpak signing, Deon Kruis.

Regardless of whether or not one agrees with the influx of these players into the county scene, it has to be acknowledged that the South African seamer has been a magnificent signing by Yorkshire and Byas deserves every credit for bringing him to Headingley.

The departure of Steve Kirby to Gloucestershire at the end of last season further reduced Yorkshire's fast bowling options and with two overseas signings already in place in Phil Jaques (pictured above in scoring action) and Ian Harvey, it was not easy to find a top bowler who was available at relatively short notice.

One wondered if Kruis was the right man when he began with no wickets for 108 runs in the rain-ruined opener against Essex at Chelmsford but once he was into his stride there was no doubting either his ability or his commitment.

In the ten-wicket triumph over Northamptonshire at Headingley, Kruis became the first fast bowler born outside the county to bag a five-wicket haul for Yorkshire and with seven games now played he has captured 28 wickets which is nine more than his nearest challenger, Tim Bresnan.

Bresnan (pictured below) has also served Yorkshire splendidly and it is hard to imagine sometimes that he is still only 20 years of age. He has made important contributions in every match and is quietly gaining in self-confidence.

So far, Bresnan has not routed a side but he has become an integral part of the Yorkshire attack and if his development continues he could be a front line England bowler in two or three years' time.

The fact that Yorkshire have had the services of Matthew Hoggard for five of their seven matches has been a real bonus although it is slightly disappointing that he has not always been at his sharpest.

Anthony McGrath has chipped in with some useful overs, particularly against Leicestershire when he bowled 26 overs in a day, the most he has ever managed, and picked up two vital wickets.

The decline of Chris Silverwood, however, and the reluctance of captain Craig White to bowl in Championship matches, has left Yorkshire short of a really sharp edge and although there are plenty of other less experienced bowlers ready to stand up and be counted it would be very worrying if Kruis had suddenly to break down.

It is because Byas appreciates how valuable he is to their Championship ambitions that he decided to leave Kruis out of the early Twenty20 Cup games rather than risk injury to one of their biggest assets.

Batting-wise, Yorkshire have again had outstanding value from Jaques, who is well ahead in the runs stakes with 638 at an average of 58, which is around the same high standards that his fellow countryman Darren Lehmann has set in recent years.

McGrath also hit a purple patch after a slow start and his epic 165 not out brought Yorkshire an historic victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road when their 406-4 was the biggest winning score they have ever made.

Matthew Wood began brightly but has trailed off and Michael Lumb scored his first half-century of the season against Lancashire but is still well short of the really big score he needs.

Overall, the batting has lacked consistency and I will be surprised if Joe Sayers is not given his chance soon, possibly as early as the next Championship match, which is against Worcestershire at New Road, starting on July 8.

In the totesport League, the leading five batsmen have been fairly consistent, Wood just leading the way with 216 runs although Lumb has the best average with 40.80.

White's batting has yet to come good but he's been dynamite with the ball, picking up 13 wickets at 8.84 runs apiece and he was badly missed when his dodgy knee prevented him from coming on at a critical time against Leicestershire Foxes.

In both competitions, Yorkshire have flagged a little after a splendid start and they need to be back to their best once the action starts up again.

Updated: 11:04 Saturday, June 25, 2005