Michael Lumb is now up and running and ready to follow in the footsteps of his father, Richard, and carve out a long and successful batting career with Yorkshire.

His dad played for Yorkshire from 1970-84, scoring 11,525 first class runs with 22 centuries and, in the process, forming with Geoff Boycott the second most successful opening partnership in the club's history.

The pair were as different as chalk and cheese but between them they forged out 29 century opening stands - and Lumb would probably argue the number would have been much higher if his celebrated partner had not run him out so many times.

Only the illustrious Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe managed more century alliances and they were so far ahead of anyone else that they featured in 69.

The Lumb family hail from Doncaster and are steeped in the traditions of Yorkshire league cricket, Richard's grandfather being the founder of the Joe Lumb competition, and many of the county's fans with long memories will be pleased that Michael had decided to make Headingley his home during the summer months.

It could, however, have turned out so differently, because Michael, now 21, was born in Johannesburg while Richard was playing cricket out there during the English close season.

Michael's mum, Sue, is South African, and when Richard laid up his bat with Yorkshire the family moved permanently to Johannesburg where Michael began to show that he had plenty of his father's cricketing talents as well as those of his uncle, A J S Smith, who played for Natal during the 70s and early 80s.

His development was so promising that he played for South Africa when his country staged the Under-19s World Cup in 1998 and he enjoyed several excellent innings in the competition. During that same season, he played for South Africa Under 19s in the first unofficial Test against England Under 19s in Cape Town when he achieved greater success with the ball than the bat, his medium pacers bringing him three wickets in the first innings.

"It was immediately after the World Cup that I realised I had to make a firm decision about my future," said Michael.

"I could either try to make a career out of cricket in South Africa or attempt to be successful elsewhere.

"We talked it over as a family and in the end decided it would be best if I came to England for six months of the year and spent the winters playing for Wanderers in Johannesburg.

"It was a great boost when I was taken on by Yorkshire and now I hope I can go on to do just as well as my dad or even better."

Michael is not exactly out of the same mould as his father because the younger man is a robust left-hander who strikes the ball hard and sustains a general air of aggression whereas Richard was a careful right-handed opener who particularly excelled with his well-placed leg-side strokes.

Michael is a British citizen with a British passport and because of this Richard made a special plea to the ECB that his son's qualification should be cut to three years.

Last year was his last as an 'apprentice' and when Yorkshire gave him a first team debut against Zimbabwe at Headingley he gave a taste of what may be to come by thrashing an unbeaten 66 which was full of firmly struck shots.

He was the second team's outstanding batsman with 885 championship runs, including a career-best 191, and now he is just waiting for the opportunity to make his mark at the senior level.

"My winter with Wanderers was slightly disappointing but I had a good pre-season tour with Yorkshire and I am now ready for the challenge whenever it may come," he said.

If Yorkshire's batting remains as frail as it was last season then that chance could be just around the corner.

Updated: 12:08 Wednesday, April 25, 2001