Yorkshire were today inquiring whether new captain Darren Lehmann will be available for the start of the season after all following the calling off of Australia's tour to Zimbabwe next month.

Last week, Yorkshire announced they had signed another Australian, Simon Katich, as a temporary replacement for Lehmann should he be unavailable until the second week in May.

The Australian Cricket Board said the tour had been called off because of safety concerns following the political unrest in Zimbabwe.

There had earlier been talk, however, of Australia and Zimbabwe playing the two Tests and three one-day matches in South Africa, and Yorkshire are trying to determine if this idea has now also been scrapped.

Updated: 11:45 Wednesday, March 27, 2002