At last, some good news for the beleaguered English farm industry. David Byas, a farmer in the winter, has led Yorkshire to the County Championship for the first time in the modern era. Last time they won it, Fred Trueman was still playing for them and Mike Atherton was a babe in arms. It is an end to 33 years of much more than hurt: try fear, loathing, backstabbing and bloodletting, and you would be about half way there. Comfortable probably isn't the word for anything to do with Yorkshire cricket, but It has been a highly convincing victory. After a few years of being a bunch of chokers - shaping well in May, shrivelling in August - David Byas and his team have shaken off that label by extending their early lead and wrapping the title up with a full three weeks to go.

It has been a one-horse race with nobody else mounting a serious challenge. Surrey began as hot favourites to complete a hat-trick but instead ran into a triple whammy consisting of the spring monsoon, multiple international calls, and finally a mass loss of form.

Yorkshire had Test calls too, but apart from Michael Vaughan, who was mostly injured anyway, these were always for their seamers - and, like the Derbyshire of a decade ago, they have two complete sets of those. Their already efficient battery now has added venom thanks to Steve Kirby, a figure who appears to have wandered in from the pages of an old comic with his ginger hair (now shaved off) and permanent red mist. Another extra dimension has been supplied by Richard Dawson, a 21-year-old offspinner who bowls an attacking line from a height of 6 ft 4 in and could end up playing more Tests than any of his better-known team-mates bar Darren Gough (who is more Buckinghamshire and England these days).

The other Darren, Lehmann, has been a towering presence. He is the perfect overseas pro - gifted, experienced, tireless and no longer wanted by his country. The service he has given could convince even a Yorkshireman that overseas players have their place.

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden.com.

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