Exclusive: Yorkshire seek stand-in for Harris

The club are looking to sign a strike bowler to replace the Australian paceman Ryan Harris.

Harris is contracted to Indian Premier League side Deccan Chargers until the end of April, a month that includes four County Championship matches and an ECB 40 League game.

It means Harris will be unavailable for the opening quarter of the Championship programme, leaving Yorkshire in desperate need of seam bowling cover.

Yorkshire are also trying to sign a Twenty20 overseas specialist in an attempt to boost their hopes of reaching the Champions League.

The two finalists from England's Twenty20 Cup go through to the money-spinning global event, which carries up to $5m prize-money.

Yorkshire say they have yet to identity Harris's replacement, although chief executive Stewart Regan conceded South Africa pace bowler Morne Morkel could be among the potential candidates.

Morkel, who captured 5-75 yesterday to help South Africa into a commanding position against England in the third Test, played one match for the county in 2008 before succumbing to a hamstring injury.

Regan told the Yorkshire Post: "Morne is someone we know and he would be one of the names in the frame subject to availability.

"Overseas bowlers are like gold dust at the moment and it's a very competitive market place, so it would all come down to eligibility and international commitments.

"There are a couple of Australians in last year's Ashes squad that we might also take a look at, but everything at the moment is up in the air.

"It's very hard to sign overseas players these days with all the Twenty20 and international tournaments going on, be they permanent overseas players or replacement ones, but the good news is Ryan will be available for the remainder of the season."

Although Yorkshire have known for some time about

Harris's IPL commitments, with the player contracted to Deccan Chargers before joining the county, Regan admitted new captain Andrew Gale was a big driving force behind the club's desire to recruit a replacement.

Gale, recently appointed in succession to Anthony McGrath, fears Yorkshire could be exposed without sufficient seam bowling options and is anxious the team hit the ground running.

"Andrew is very keen we go into the new season with an overseas bowler in place and that's why we're especially keen to bring in a replacement for Ryan," added Regan.

"Andrew has his own ideas of what he wants and how best to go about things and the board will support him as best we can.

"With Ryan potentially unavailable for the whole of April, depending on how Deccan Chargers perform in the IPL, it makes sense to sign some cover.

"That is especially true when you consider the amount of Championship cricket condensed into April."

Regan said Yorkshire would prefer to sign a Twenty20 specialist who would already be playing in England next summer, thus cutting down on air fares and travel costs.

That means players from Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh could be targeted, with those teams all playing international cricket in England during 2010.

"The work permit regulations are very complicated at the moment so we're just going to have to see what happens with regards to a Twenty20 overseas player," added Regan.

"Without going too much into the technical side of things, Worcestershire have recently signed the Bangladesh captain but the regulations are so complicated that once he finishes playing against England here next summer, he then has to fly back to Bangladesh to complete the necessary paper work that enables him to come back to England to play for Worcestershire – a process that could take several weeks."

Yorkshire were last night still waiting to hear whether Tim Bresnan, Adil Rashid and McGrath will be part of the forthcoming IPL players' auction. The trio have put themselves forward to take part in the tournament, which runs from March 12 to April 25.

Because those players did not have pre-existing IPL deals, Yorkshire have stipulated they must be available for the opening County Championship match against Warwickshire on April 9.

GAMES HARRIS IS SET TO MISS

Apr 9-12 v Warwickshire at Edgbaston, County Championship.

Apr 15-18 v Somerset at Headingley Carnegie, County Championship.

Apr 21-24 v Kent at Canterbury, County Championship.

Apr 25 v Essex at Chelmsford, ECB 40 League.

Apr 27-30 v Durham at Headingley Carnegie, County Championship.