THE price of success is that county champions Durham will begin the longest season in their first-class history at Lord’s on April 9.

The annual four-day match between the title holders and the MCC will give Durham their earliest start in their 18th season, which ends with a one-day match at Taunton on September 27.

Immediately prior to that is the championship match at Worcester, but for fans seeking other attractive venues for a few days away there is precious little to excite them in high summer.

The four-day match at Taunton is on April 28-May 1, swiftly followed by the Sussex match at Hove on May 6-9.

After playing the MCC and Durham University, Durham begin their competitive programme with a Friends Provident Trophy match at home to Yorkshire on April 19, followed by a four-day game against the same opponents.

Although Durham have been granted a one-day game at Scarborough in the final season of the NatWest Pro40 League, their championship visit to Yorkshire is again at Headingley in July.

The Twenty20 Cup starts earlier than usual, but has been split into two batches of fixtures, either side of the Twenty20 World Championship in June.

Yorkshire’s new captain, Anthony McGrath, said: “It will be the second season on the bounce that we have played Durham first.”

Last season Yorkshire lost a Friends Provident Trophy tie at Riverside and McGrath continued: “It will be a very tough game to play in the early season, especially with their barrage of seamers.”

Yorkshire will also travel to play Sussex at Hove in September, a fixture they will have faced in the final month of the campaign for three successive years.

The two Roses fixtures against Lancashire will take place within the space of 22 days through the end of July and August. The first will be at Old Trafford on Friday July, 31.

The change in the Twenty20 Cup format will see it start on May, 25, and there will be three LV Division One fixtures sandwiched inbetween the first six group games and the final four.

“Every season we are supposed to be reducing the amount of cricket played, but we just end up playing more,” commented McGrath.

“Six Twenty20s, three back-to-back championship games, then four more Twenty20s will be very gruelling.”

Yorkshire will play Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire in the championship at Scarborough in July and August.

Former Yorkshire director of cricket David Byas is considering whether to apply for the new first team coach’s job at Lancashire.

He spent the 2002 season at Old Trafford, his last campaign as a player, but returned to Headingley as coach in 2004 and, due to internal politics, left his position of director of cricket in early 2007.

■ England will complete their preparation for next summer’s Ashes with a three-day fixture against Warwickshire a week before the first Test against Australia. The Edgbaston game starts on July 1.