CRICKET BLOG

Things are happening at a pace in the world of cricket at the moment. Yorkshire have announced the signing of exciting young prospect Morne Morkel to replace Rana Naved for the start of the season and England, having had a poor test tour of Sri Lanka, have got off to the best possible start on their tour of Sri Lanka.

Looking close to home first of all. It was always going to be doubtful whether Naved would be fit to play at all this summer, so to hear the news that he will be available for the most part is fantastic news and a big boost to the Tykes' bowling attack. Naved had great success at Champions Sussex during his time there and hopefully he can bring the same kind of success the Headingley. That's why I feel that the club have done the right thing in giving him all the time necessary to fully recover from his shoulder injury.

In the meantime, what a player to be able to bring in as a replacement. I have seen Morkel play on a number of occasions and he can bowl at a serious pace when he 'hits his straps' and can certainly hit a hard ball lower down the order. He will bring a new dimension to the team, and along with the likes of Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid, gives Yorkshire some great all-round options for the upcoming season. Anyone who heard Jacques Rudolph talking on Yorkshire Radio about his close friend will have been left in no doubt about just how highly rated he is in South Africa, where, along with Dale Steyn, he is seen as the future of their cricket.

England have also got off to a great start in the New Zealand and it seems that Captain Paul Collingwood is really starting to get a settled team together who all know what their own specific roles are in the team, something which has been a major downfall of the side in the past. The Kiwi's aren't the strongest team in the world so I expect England to gain series wins in both the test and one-day games. The split captaincy seems to be working at the moment, and it was interesting to hear Michael Vaughan saying he feels the roles will help him prolong his test career beyond the Ashes next year, and he may be able to have one more crack at the Aussies down under, although he did admit he doesn't expect to be captain by that point.

There is plenty more cricket action to come over the next few weeks and you can keep up-to-date with all the goings-on at Yorkshire and England on Yorkshire Radio.

Mike Rossiter

Sports Correspondent