Anthony McGrath is looking to hit the ground running when he returns to LV= County Championship action against leaders Durham at the Riverside on Saturday.

The 35-year-old batsman has had his summer interrupted by knee and sciatic back injuries, forcing him to sit out four Championship and four Clydesdale Bank 40 matches.

Although back on the park now, the Bradfordian is still feeling his way back to form.

He has not yet recorded a fifty this summer but scored 44 in the last four-day match against Sussex and 28 in the opening Friends Life t20 match against Warwickshire last Friday.

At the height of his back issues, the ex-England man described the pain as the worst he had ever experienced.

But, ahead of tomorrow’s crucial 20-over clash with Worcestershire at Headingley, McGrath admitted: “I’m feeling better with each innings. I missed the latter stages of pre-season, when the cricketing side of things really stepped up. That means you’re playing catch-up once the season starts. But the injury seems to be getting better and I’m certainly feeling myself more and more at the crease.

“I’m hoping that by the time the Championship starts up again, having got some Twenty20s under my belt, I should be in full swing.”

Yorkshire’s start to the season has been disastrous.

They are fighting against relegation in the Championship, face a mountainous task to qualify for the semi-finals of the CB40 and have lost their opening two t20 North Division fixtures.

It is a far cry from last year when they challenged for honours in the Championship and CB40.

McGrath, however, believes injuries have also contributed to their downfall as well as a lack of form.

He added: “When things go well, you don’t seem to get any injuries. Now we’re finding that there seem to be new ones almost every week.

“We lost Tim Bresnan last month when he would have played a couple of games at least for us. There’s also been myself, Gerard Brophy, Rich Pyrah, Joe Sayers and Ajmal Shahzad.

“It’s been very difficult for Galey and Martyn in terms of their selection.”

Bresnan, ruled out for up to six weeks on May 17 with a torn right calf, has returned to the nets.