Matthew Wood and Darren Lehmann were both seeking to continue their extraordinary batting form in top-of-the-table Yorkshire's match with bottom club Northamptonshire which began at Wantage Road today.

The hard-fought draw between Lancashire and Surrey at The Oval on Monday was good news for Yorkshire because it stretched their lead over second-placed Lancashire to 28 points and they are looking to widen the margin even further against Northants, who are still searching for their first win of the season.

Much of Yorkshire's success has been due to making more runs on a regular basis this summer and Wood and Lehmann have each plundered Championship centuries in their last two innings.

Wood hit 124 against Somerset at Bath before taking 102 off Surrey's attack, while Lehmann's scores in those games were 187 not out and 104, Yorkshire batting only once in each match.

The Australian, of course, is a big hit in almost every fixture, but Wood's better form has not come a moment too soon and he has done enough in the last few weeks to establish a permanent place in the side.

Meanwhile, Anthony McGrath is making a good recovery from his groin operation but it will still be over a fortnight before he is fit to play again.

McGrath is not certain to come straight back into the first team, however, because Michael Lumb seized his chance against Leicestershire with a dazzling 122 and ould now be hard to displace.

Although Northants lost to Yorkshire by four wickets at Headingley in May and are generally performing poorly they have one of the most successful pace bowlers in the country in Darren Cousins who has already taken 36 wickets in first class matches.

SCOREBOARD

CricInfo County Championship

Division One

Yorkshire v Northamptonshire

(at Wantage Road)

Canterbury: Kent v Lancashire

Leicester: Leicestershire v Surrey

Taunton: Somerset v Essex

Division Two

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Warwickshire

Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Middlesex

Updated: 12:10 Wednesday, July 04, 2001