Yorkshire County Cricket Club announced today that Western Australian batsman Simon Katich will play for them in the first few weeks of the season while Darren Lehman is unavailable. Left hander Katich, 31, played for Durham in the 2000 season. Yorkshire had been in contact with the Australian Cricket Board to see if their tour of Zimbabwe was still going ahead after news of Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth. Indications are that the tour will still take place which means Lehman, Yorkshire's new captain, will be unavailable until around the middle of May.

Updated: 14:57 Wednesday, March 20, 2002