SIMON GUY was supposed to be working this week – but now he is set to spend the next four days “having fun with my friends” after answering Yorkshire’s SOS call for a wicketkeeper ahead of their Roses match against Lancashire at Liverpool today.

The 32-year-old, who retired from professional cricket two years ago, could make his first LV= County Championship appearance since 2007 if Gerard Brophy fails a late fitness test on his bruised right thumb.

Guy trained with Yorkshire yesterday afternoon as Brophy undertook some light work with the bat.

The professional at Marske in the North Yorkshire South Durham League, Guy’s day job is as a freelance cricket coach.

He has worked with the England under-19s team, the England women’s team and Andrew Gale’s Pro Coach Cricket Academy. which has provided sessions in York over the last few years.

He said: “I was supposed to be doing some coaching and paperwork this week, but that’s changed track pretty quickly. I’ve had to put it all to one side and give myself four days off to come here.

“I was just about to go out for a coffee with my girlfriend when I got the call from Martyn (Moxon).

“I’m really happy to be here, and I’ll just treat it as four days of fun with my friends if I end up playing. No matter what happens, it’s only four days. I’ve just been given the opportunity to come and enjoy myself.

“Who would turn down four days of County Championship cricket against Lancashire?”

Captain Gale has no qualms about throwing Guy into action should he have to.

“He’s been out of county cricket for a few years, but he’s still an incredibly fit bloke,” he said.

“You know exactly what you’re going to get from him, and he’s been doing well in the leagues.”

Guy has started the club campaign well, scoring 95 off 68 balls as recently as last weekend.

Assessing Yorkshire’s start to the new season, Guy added: “We’ve got some great young talent in the side, and they’re getting some invaluable experience of first team cricket.

“We’ve dominated teams in the last few games, and everything seems to be going in the right direction.

“It’s just about getting some wins under our belts now.”

If Brophy fails to make it, he will be one of six players absent from first team duty this week. Jonny Bairstow and Ajmal Shahzad are with England Lions, while Anthony McGrath, Rich Pyrah and Tim Bresnan are all unfit.

Bresnan, who left the field during the final session of the draw against Hampshire at Headingley on Saturday, had a scan on his right calf on Monday.

It revealed a tear that will rule him out of England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

“This is a re-occurrence of an injury Bresnan first sustained earlier in the year during the one-day international series against Australia,” read an ECB statement.

Bresnan is most likely to return to Yorkshire action during the second batch of Friends Life Twenty20 matches towards the back end of June.