With the new season little more than a couple of months away, county champions Yorkshire are still in the dark about the overall availability of their new captain, Darren Lehmann, now that he has been recalled to Australia's Test squad.

Lehmann is certain to miss the first three weeks because of his country's Test series in Zimbabwe but it is his movements towards the end of the season which are causing greater concern.

Australia are scheduled to visit Pakistan in September but precise details of the timing of the tour have not yet been revealed, making it impossible for Yorkshire to know just when Lehmann would have to leave them.

If the series starts early in September then it is possible that Lehmann would have to pack his bags by mid-August.

Lehmann's call-up by Australia has come as something of a bombshell to Yorkshire who believed that his Test career was over when he was appointed to succeed David Byas as captain this season.

At the moment, Yorkshire have mainly left it in the hands of their Australian coach Wayne Clark to come up with a replacement for Lehmann during his absence but so far no firm arrangements seem to have been made.

If Lehmann should not be available for several weeks both at the beginning and end of the summer, then Yorkshire may be forced into finding an overseas replacement for Lehmann for the whole of the season, possibly as captain.

Otherwise they will have to consider other alternatives, one of which could be to ask Byas if he would have a re-think over his retirement.

With both Lehmann and Byas gone, Yorkshire would be missing their two most experienced batsmen together and their top-order line-up would be further weakened whenever England required Michael Vaughan.

If Byas - at 38 still fitter and stronger than most members of the first team squad - were to come back either as captain or purely as a batsman it would ease some of the unexpected problems caused by Lehmann's return to Australia's Test ranks.

Byas, who has returned to full-time work on his North Yorkshire farm, refused to speculate on whether he would be willing to put off his cricket retirement for another season if he received an SOS from Yorkshire.

"I have received no approach whatsoever from Yorkshire," was all he would say.

Uncertainty over Lehmann and the captaincy is the last thing Yorkshire want as they turn their thoughts to retaining the Championship title this season.

As well as being a brilliant batsman, Lehmann enjoys the full confidence of the Yorkshire team, but it would be asking a lot of an outsider to come in at such short notice and make an immediate impact.

Updated: 12:22 Wednesday, February 13, 2002