Yorkshire are becomingly increasingly anxious that star batsman Darren Lehmann may not be available for large chunks of the season.

Operations director Geoff Cope and cricket supremo David Byas are in constant touch with the Australian left-hander in a bid to establish just how much of the summer he may have to miss because of international commitments.

Until recently, the chances of Yorkshire being without Lehmann appeared slim because Australia's tour of Zimbabwe in May and June seemed uncertain to go ahead and, in any case, Lehmann was not expected to be on it after several months out of action with a knee injury.

But Lehmann made a good enough recovery to be selected for Australia's current tour of Sri Lanka and he rallied his country to victory in the first Test with a stunning century.

Now the tour dates to Zimbabwe have been confirmed as May 17 to June 12 which means that if Lehmann is selected he will miss at least three Championship and five one-day matches, including Yorkshire's likely visit to Leicestershire in the third round of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.

Then Australia are due to play a two-match home series against Sri Lanka from July 1 to 13 and there is talk of a camp in late August ahead of the ICC Trophy which takes place in England in September.

Said Cope: "David Byas obviously wants to know just as soon as he can about how long Lehmann will be with us and the subject is an area of worry for us at the moment."

Updated: 10:54 Friday, March 19, 2004