New captain Darren Lehmann is relishing the challenge of helping Yorkshire to hold on to the County Championship title.

But he also had some bad news when he flew in from Australia over the weekend and joined up with his county team-mates. Lehmann confirmed that not only would he be returning home for about a fortnight in June to play in three one-day internationals against Pakistan but that his season with Yorkshire would end in mid-August.

Australia will then be preparing for their Test tour of Pakistan which means that Lehmann will leave Yorkshire just when their Championship bid is reaching its climax. He remained optimistic of Yorkshire's prospects in all competitions and was confident that fellow Australian Simon Katich would prove to be an excellent stand-in during his absence.

Since Lehmann was appointed last autumn to succeed David Byas as Yorkshire's captain, his international career has taken off again and he is now very much a part of Australia's squad.

"I must admit that I never thought I would play Test cricket again but I always felt I might make it back into Australia's one-day side," said Lehmann.

"I never feel stale at the start of a new campaign. Meeting old friends and colleagues quickly gets you in the mood for the action to start."

l Yorkshire left-hander Michael Lumb blasted a magnificent 121 off Bradford-Leeds Universities' tiring attack at Headingley, putting on 219 in 39 overs with opener

Scott Richardson, who was out for the same score. Yorkshire declared at 384 for four with a lead of 219. The Universities had gamely made their way to 72 for two by the close when they trailed by 147.