Yorkshire have already had "a brief chat" with England fast bowling prospect Stuart Broad and they will step up their efforts to sign the 21-year-old paceman by holding further talks with him at a date still to be arranged.

In addition, they have offered a new contract to their South African Kolpak seamer Deon Kruis, while Australian Jason Gillespie could remain as their overseas signing for next season. He is currently one of the options being considered.

Broad, who is in the England squad for the final Test against India starting at The Oval on Thursday, has also been selected for the forthcoming NatWest Series of one-day matches with India and the World Twenty20, which takes place in South Africa next month.

Yorkshire, however, are not the only county to show an interest in Broad, whose contract with Leicestershire is due to run out at the end of the season, and Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Warwickshire are also believed to be after his signature.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's director of cricket, admitted that Broad's appearances for the Tykes could be restricted by his international appearances but added: "There is always that possibility but at the moment he is playing mainly one-day cricket for England.

"In the next three or four years I would expect him to be pretty much involved with Test and one-day international cricket but, at the same time, when a player of Broad's ability becomes available you have got to show an interest.

"There is no guarantee at this stage that he will join us and we have only had initial talks at the moment."

Although some fans may be puzzled why Yorkshire should approach a high-profile prospect whose appearances will almost certainly be limited, the reason may not be entirely to do with exactly how many games Broad will be able to play.

The club are extremely anxious to go on signing top names in order to attract sponsors and additional members for when the new pavilion is built, hopefully in time for the 2009 Ashes Test despite recent delays and setbacks.

Neither Matthew Hoggard nor Kruis will take part in the Roses Championship match which starts at Headingley on Thursday. Hoggard is still suffering from a back injury and although Kruis has now recovered from a side strain he is working his way back to full fitness in the three-day Second XI Roses game which begins at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Yorkshire make one change from the side which drew against Kent at Scarborough, all-rounder Ajmal Shahzad coming in for leg-spinner Mark Lawson.

"Ajmal has bowled very well this season and he deserves to play after proving his fitness following a rib injury," said Moxon. "We are waiting to see how Hoggard progresses but hopefully we should have all our seamers fit by next week."

Yorkshire tomorrow begin a hectic spell of cricket by meeting Middlesex in the NatWest Pro40 League under the Headingley floodlights, starting at 4.40pm.

The players have still to be back on the ground first thing Thursday morning to prepare for the Roses match at 11am.

Yorkshire Phoenix (v Middlesex Crusaders): Rudolph, White, Brophy, McGrath, Younus Khan, Gale, Bresnan, Pyrah, Wainwright, Gough, Gillespie.

Yorkshire (v Lancashire): White, Sayers, McGrath, Younus Khan, Rudolph, Brophy, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad, Bresnan, Gough, Gillespie.