York Cricket Club go to Castleford in the Yorkshire Premier League today and when they get there, they could confront a confused man.

Yorkshire’s left-arm spinner David Wainwright is expected to play for the Saville Park club in a continued bid to steady a career that reached the heights of the England Lions last winter but has subsided in 2010 through injury and complications in his bowling action.

“The Lions helped me a lot because I was speaking to the kind of people I would never have come into contact with otherwise,” admitted the 25-year-old.

“I changed my action to get more momentum and drive towards the batsman but in doing that, it seems that I’ve aggravated my knee.

“When I was with England, all of the changes made sense on paper and I was bowling then as well as I’ve ever bowled, putting the ball on a sixpence but adjusting to life back at Yorkshire was one of the toughest things.

“I just found it hard to come back and explain the changes and keep both parties happy.”

Wainwright remains a rookie in terms of experience, with just 30 first-class matches under his belt although his short-form record is impressive with 13 wickets in 15 Twenty20 matches.

Now it seems the dysfunctional relationship between the county cricket system and the international ranks is threatening, rather than assisting, his development.

“Yorkshire sent me away telling me I was bowling well,” he added.

“And then I get to England Lions and they look to develop me to take me to the next level.

“Yorkshire’s argument would be whether I would have reached that level doing what I was doing anyway.

“So if I ever got back there to those squads, I’d have to take those things on board but stand up and be my own man if things aren’t right.”

After an injection in his knee, Wainwright has been told to focus on the Roses county championship match as a possible return date, starting at Old Trafford on Monday.

His absence at county level has not been felt acutely in the Friends Provident Twenty20 thanks to the form of Azeem Rafiq and Adil Rashid. But long-term, the last six months could be Yorkshire’s loss.

Yorkshire host Leicestershire at Headingley tomorrow in the FPT20 starting at 11am.