Yorkshire have England hero Michael Vaughan and Test colleague Matthew Hoggard back with them for tomorrow's televised Benson and Hedges Cup quarter-final clash against Essex at Chelmsford.

Although Yorkshire will be looking for big performances from both of their Test stars it is Hoggard who could be the key figure in seeing them through to the semi-finals.

Both Chris Silverwood and Ryan Sidebottom picked up back injuries at Canterbury last week and are unfit for the game, leaving a lot of the hard work to rest on Hoggard's broad shoulders.

The Baildon pace ace bowled a marathon 39 overs against Sri Lanka over the first two days of the Test but England's great recovery - which included Vaughan's century - has fortunately given him plenty of chance to rest up since then and his batteries should be fully recharged.

Hoggard can expect solid support from Steven Kirby and Tim Bresnan who both bowled splendidly in Yorkshire Phoenix's Norwich Union League win at the expense of champions Kent Spitfires on Sunday.

They had expected to be playing in the Second XI's four-day Roses match which began at Liverpool yesterday but were told to stay with the first team squad because of the late injury crisis.

Yorkshire moved straight on to Chelmsford from Canterbury to give them some preparation time instead of being constantly on the road.

By they time the Essex match is over most of them will have been away from home for over a fortnight.

No cup-tie ever comes easy but Yorkshire cannot afford to slip up at Chelmsford because they know that if they go on to the Lord's final it will help to compensate for the dreadful start to their Championship campaign which has seen the title-holders lose their first three matches.

Defeat against Essex, who are in Division Two of both the Championship and the Norwich Union League, would go down particularly badly with the fans and increase the pressure on coach Wayne Clark and captain Darren Lehmann.

Despite all their problems this season, however, Yorkshire have got an unblemished record in one-day cricket on their travels, having won all five of their away matches - three in the BandH and two in the Norwich Union League.

But two of their former players will be trying their hardest to stop Yorkshire extending the sequence - Pudsey Congs James Middlebrook and Ripon-born Paul Grayson both now being on Essex's books.

Yorkshire v Essex (from) Wood, Vaughan, White, Lehmann, McGrath, Dawson, Blakey, Fellows, Hoggard, Gray, Bresnan, Kirby.

Updated: 09:10 Tuesday, May 21, 2002