DAMIEN Martyn's stunning 87 before he was so cruelly struck in the face during his maiden innings against Somerset on Thursday, left no-one in any doubt that Yorkshire had signed a world-class batsman.

The county expected that he would see them through the final few weeks of the season after the departures of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and Indian left-hander Yuvraj Singh.

But, despite Martyn's undeniable brilliance, did Yorkshire really need to plan a replacement overseas player for the last three Championship and National League games when so many youngsters of their own are knocking at the door and only occasionally getting in?

All Yorkshire fans will wish Martyn a speedy recovery and if he has to return home soon they will greatly miss seeing whether he could have made as big an impact on the latter part of the season as Matthew Elliott did last year when he proved an outstanding replacement over the last six weeks of the summer for Darren Lehmann.

The big difference from then to now, however, was that Yorkshire still had a Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy final to play and it was Elliott's breathtaking century which proved to be the match-winner.

Yorkshire's director of cricket Geoff Cope is to be congratulated on netting such a good player as Martyn, but the downside of signing any overseas players at this late stage of the season is that he takes the place of one of our home-grown batsmen just when some of them need to be making runs to secure their futures.

The new regulation allowing two overseas batsmen this season has led to fewer opportunities for the likes of Vic Craven, Chris Taylor and Scott Richardson and although at least one of them will get a chance over the next couple of weeks the door is not as wide open as it might have been.

Perhaps the player to suffer most from being squeezed out this season is Harrogate-born left-hander, Craven, who plays for Pudsey Congs, and it is worth noting that he would not have got into Phoenix's side against Surrey Lions at Headingley last Sunday if Martyn had not been forced to delay his county debut because of a sickness bug.

Yet it was Craven, in a 120-run partnership with Michael Vaughan, who almost pulled off a win for Yorkshire and the Tykes certainly wouldn't have ended up as losers if the pair of them had not been dramatically run out as the evening gloom deepened.

Craven can consider himself unfortunate not to have been picked for every National League game this season, particularly as his improving medium-pacers are so suited to this form of cricket.

Against Kent at Scarborough he hit the stumps three times and gained one lbw verdict to bring Yorkshire victory by 18 runs and his figures of four for 22 were not only a career-best, but also the second best by a Yorkshire bowler in this year's competition.

Opportunities have been even scarcer for Craven in the Championship and he did not get his chance until the match with Hampshire at Scarborough in late July when he made respectable scores of 47 and 38 and included Simon Katich and John Crawley among his victims with the ball.

Craven has rarely let Yorkshire down since making his debut in 1990, despite sometimes going in out of position.

He is an attacking batsman with plenty of exciting strokes as well as being a bowler who can direct it pretty straight and given a regular run he could become a real asset.

He was a surprise selection for this week's Championship match with Somerset at Headingley but only got the vote over Taylor at the last minute because Chris Silverwood had stepped down with a stiff neck and Yorkshire wanted to use Craven as a back-up seamer.

But Taylor also needed to be given a go in that game and he, too, is hoping that he can somehow make his mark over the next fortnight.

Updated: 11:11 Saturday, September 06, 2003