ALTHOUGH rain robbed Yorkshire of the chance of beating Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Saturday, they were still able to stretch their lead at the top of the CricInfo Championship table to a substantial 33 points with seven matches remaining.

The ten points Yorkshire took from the game - six from bonus points and four for the draw - widen the gap by four points, Somerset now being their nearest rivals after Lancashire tumbled to Kent and champions Surrey held on for a heroic draw against Leicestershire.

Unless Yorkshire now suffer a dreadful loss of form they should take the crown off Surrey but "We are the Champions" is not a cry to be heard coming from their dressing room just yet.

Coach Wayne Clark is not a believer in talking of titles until they are in the bag, his philosophy being that if a team plays well enough then a title is the natural process brought about by winning matches.

Skipper David Byas is also cautious of any such talk because he's seen Yorkshire trip up before as attempts to snatch the Championship for the first time since 1968 have faltered.

Yet Byas in his heart knows that by the time he celebrates his 38th birthday on August 26 Yorkshire should be just a couple of steps away from domestic cricket's greatest prize - unless they have already claimed it by then.

Yorkshire now take a long break from Championship cricket and they do not renew their title bid until the Roses match at Headingley on Friday, July 27, by which time second and third placed Somerset and Lancashire will have played each other at Old Trafford.

If Lancashire win that one, then a bumper crowd can be expected for the Roses game, but the new West Stand at Headingley will still remain closed while it is being fitted out in time for the fourth Test in August.

Only 7.4 overs were possible at Northampton on Saturday before the rain came, leaving Yorkshire on ten for one as they chased a 243 target on a pitch which was increasingly taking spin.

Although honours in the end were evenly shared after a hard fought contest, one could not help feeling that Yorkshire could have wrapped the game up inside three days if they had adopted different tactics.

Northants at one stage were 91 for five and leading by only 35 but Byas then bowled his two inexperienced off-spinners in tandem throughout most of the afternoon and Australian Michael Hussey's uncompromising 122 led a recovery which took the home side to 298.

Yorkshire certainly need to find out more about the potential of their spinners but playing debutant Andy Gray and novice Richard Dawson in the same game and bowling them together was a mistake.

Both had their moments and their final figures were not too bad but they did not prove they are a better bet than James Middlebrook and Ian Fisher, who must be beginning to wonder what the future has in store for them.

Updated: 12:19 Monday, July 09, 2001