NOTHING short of a Roses victory in glorious weather will completely satisfy Yorkshire when they take on table-toppers Lancashire at Headingley on Sunday in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy.

Two rained ruined home games, each yielding only a point, have left Yorkshire with just four points from four matches, and it is absolutely essential they beat Lancashire to narrow the gap and keep the leaders within their sights.

If they can pull out all the stops tomorrow they should go on to make it a Bank Holiday weekend of double celebration because they are at home again on Monday to Scotland.

Fine weather is almost as important as beating Lancashire because rain-wrecked matches so far this season have cost cash-strapped Yorkshire in the region of £20,000 and they need some bumper gates to make up for the losses.

There had been a glimmer of hope in the Yorkshire camp that Michael Vaughan might have been able to pronounce himself fit for one or both of the C&G games but it does not seem as if he has yet quite reached the stage where he is ready for action.

How Yorkshire would love to have had Vaughan back and in the same sort of vintage form that brought him an unbeaten 116 in the C&G Trophy quarter-final clash with Lancashire at Old Trafford only two years' ago, an innings which guided Yorkshire home by three wickets.

As I reported exclusively on Thursday, Vaughan is making excellent progress within the three-month timescale for the rehab work on his knee but he has to feel fully confident before he can make himself available for Yorkshire.

It may be that after further training while with England at Edgbaston, Vaughan will be ready to make his comeback in the Championship match against Hampshire at Headingley next Wednesday but nothing, at this stage, is certain.

For the two one-day matches, Yorkshire will choose from the same 12 which were called up for last Sunday's rain-wrecked C&G game with Warwickshire when there was a late surprise with quick bowler Mitch Claydon being preferred to batsman Andrew Gale.

Gale hit his second century of the season for Yorkshire Seconds earlier this week in their 33-run win over Surrey Seconds at York and he is pressing hard for a regular first team place.

The C&G format is very much changed this year and is no longer played on a knockout basis but in their eight previous Roses encounters Yorkshire have won four and lost four.

Yorkshire from: White, Wood, McGrath, Lehmann, Lumb, Gale, Brophy, Bresnan, Dawson, Kruis, Gillespie, Claydon.

Updated: 08:45 Saturday, May 27, 2006