Yorkshire have to be wary of the wounded animal this week when they take on Surrey in the LV= County Championship at Headingley.

The Oval club may have sacked team director Chris Adams and first-team coach Ian Salisbury yesterday, but they will be able to field star batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting on Friday.

In-form Ponting will continue his duties as Surrey’s overseas player having scored 294 runs from three Championship matches already, including a best of 192.

And Pietersen will be making his comeback from three months out with a badly bruised right knee as he bids to be fit for the Ashes, which start on July 10 at Trent Bridge.

Yorkshire also have some positive fitness news to report ahead of this week.

Gary Ballance hopes to be fit after missing last week’s win over Middlesex with a virus, while Jack Brooks is on the verge of a return from his broken thumb.

It is also hoped Azeem Rafiq will be fit for the start of Twenty20 next week after being out since early April with a knee problem.

“Jack can do all his bowling at full pace now. We just need to make sure that we get the all clear from the surgeon before we put him up for selection for a Championship game,” said coach Jason Gillespie.

With the start of Twenty20 on the horizon, this will be Pietersen’s only Championship fixture before the defence of the urn, although England do play a three-day warm up match against Essex at Chelmsford at the end of the month.

“All players want to test themselves against the best, and Ricky and Kevin are two wonderful cricketers,” added Gillespie. “Our players are very excited about the opportunity to compete against such quality batsmen.”

The news of Adams’ departure yesterday following a difficult four and a half seasons in charge at the Oval will have been greeted with the odd chuckle from Yorkshire followers.

Adams had agreed a four-year contract to be the county’s captain and coach in 2006 before opting against a move from Sussex shortly afterwards despite conducting a press conference to discuss his move.

While there is regular movement of county cricket coaches in the winter months, it is very rare for the axe to fall upon somebody midway through a season.

But it is no real surprise given that Surrey have not yet won in the Championship this season and are hovering just above the relegation zone.

Adams, who did guide Surrey to promotion from division two of the Championship in 2011, only returned one major piece of silverware in the form of the Clydesdale Bank 40 title in the same season.

Their members will understandably expect more success from a club who have spent big bucks on bringing in the likes of overseas trio Ponting, Graeme Smith, on a three-year contract as captain before an ankle injury struck early last month, and JP Duminy.

Adams, however, did have to deal with the aftermath of Tom Maynard’s tragic death last year.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Matthew Fisher will return to the Yorkshire side for Thursday’s Yorkshire Bank 40 clash with Middlesex at Headingley.