YORKSHIRE could have Aaron Finch at the top of their NatWest T20 Blast batting order to face Northamptonshire at Headingley on Sunday, June 14.

The Australian Twenty20 captain's recovery from a torn left hamstring is approximately a month ahead of schedule after suffering the injury playing in the Indian Premier League on April 14.

Finch, initially ruled out for 12 weeks, is due to arrive in England shortly, with Yorkshire determined to take a softly, softly approach with the powerful right-hander.

Ahead of tonight's trip to Durham, White Rose coach Jason Gillespie said: "Kunwar Bansil, our physio, is in constant communication with Alex Kontouris, the Australian physio, and we're mapping out a plan.

"There's a game against Northants on June 14, and that is a target for him. But, if we don't feel he's quite ready, we are not going to risk him.

"It might mean we delay that by a week, and we've got no problems doing that. The health of the player is paramount. We're confident he'll be right, but we've got to take a conservative approach to bringing him back."

Finch is also due to play LV= County Championship cricket, like he did last season on the way to a winner's medal.

His big mate Glenn Maxwell is currently filling that role, and he debuted against Somerset.

Yorkshire's first Championship match after June 14 is against Nottinghamshire at Headingley on June 22, with the likelihood of Finch playing some second XI cricket first.

"There are options. There are some second-team fixtures in which we can maybe get him a hit. He's very keen to do that," said Gillespie.

"In an ideal world, you'd like a player to play some form of cricket after a lay-off like he's had, as much for his confidence as much as anything. We'll play it by ear.

"We're keeping an open mind and are being flexible with it at the moment. We'll assess him when he gets here and see where he's at physically and mentally and go from there."

Yorkshire travel to Durham tonight looking for their third successive North Division win after beating Derbyshire at Headingley and, last Friday, Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

Yorkshire 13-man squad: Gale (captain), Bairstow (wicket-keeper_, Brooks, Bresnan, Fisher, Hodd, Leaning, Lees, Maxwell, Plunkett, Pyrah, Rashid, Rhodes.